SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Throughout Longwood's weeks-long Big South surge, head coach Griff Aldrich has said his Lancers are a different team. Look no further than Thursday night's 68-58 rout of USC Upstate for proof.
 
Led by the fifth career double-double from guard Shabooty Phillips and a suffocating defensive effort, re-energized Longwood (12-17, 7-9 Big South) pulled away early and cruised to a double-digit road win over the Spartans that extends an end-of-season revival that has the Lancers back on track to host a first-round game in the 2020 Big South Championship tournament.
 
It was a table-turning win for the Lancers, who avenged the 73-56 defeat the Spartans (11-17, 6-9 Big South) dealt them on their own court on Jan. 4, just two games into the Big South slate. However, after getting out-rebounded, out-shot and generally out-played in that matchup seven weeks ago, Longwood returned the favor Thursday.
 
"I thought [toughness] was the key to the game, to be honest with you," Aldrich said. "This is a great trap game where it's a gross day, you're tired, you rode on the bus for five hours, you know you have another five-hour bus ride in a little bit, and you can come out and not really give your best. I thought from the get-go, we did a really good job trying to defend them. The guys executed the gameplan really well, and I thought there was a real commitment on the defensive end to make things very difficult for them. We were successful in that."
 
The Lancers led from their opening possession, leveraged a 45-32 rebounding advantage, and shut down a USC Upstate team that entered the game winners of four of its past seven games. The Spartans shot just .317 (20-of-63) from the floor, and leading scorer Tommy Bruner needed 23 field goal attempts to get to 20 points.
 
Now winners of six of their past nine games, the Lancers are nearer to the top of a seven-team logjam in the middle of the Big South standings and closer to securing a top-eight spot, which which would guarantee either Big South Championship first-round hosting privileges for seeds 6-8 or a first-round bye for a higher finish.
 
Longwood's most recent step up that ladder came on the strength of Phillips' 13-point, 10-rebound double-double, as well as matching 13-point efforts from Juan Munoz and JaShaun Smith. Freshman forward Leslie Nkereuwem also neared a double-double of his own with 10 points and eight rebounds, with three of those boards coming on the offensive glass.
 
Phillips added four assists to his stat line and committed just two turnovers in 35 minutes of action, extending his own sure-handed stretch that has been the catalyst to Longwood's Big South resurgence.
 
"I'm just so proud of him," Aldrich said. "I'm thrilled he had a double-double, but he's continued to lead this team. He's leading it even knowing he hasn't had the year he's wanted. Basically he's coming in every day deciding to do whatever he can for this program. He'll be a loved Lancer for years to come, but I also think he's starting to shape the identity of this program. He's a guy who comes out, plays hard, gives what he has to the team whether his shot's going in or not."
 
Phillips' shots went in Thursday, as did many of his teammates' as the typically three-point-focused Lancers outscored the Spartans 26-20 in the paint. The three-pointers still came, with Smith hitting three of Longwood's eight, but 44 of Longwood's 68 points came from inside the arc and at the free throw line.
 
That offensive effort put Longwood ahead, but the defensive performance set the tone early and held off USC Upstate's final charge midway through the second half. Longwood opened the game on a 12-3 run and held the Spartans to 1-of-10 shooting after the opening tipoff to build a 38-28 halftime lead. However, the Spartans bounced back after the break and scored nine unanswered points over a two-minute span to trim Longwood's lead to two point at 50-48.
 
But Smith, the senior Lancer who is on pace to break Longwood's Division I-era career three-point shooting percentage record, reignited Longwood with back-to-back treys on the next two possessions and push the lead back to at least five the rest of the way.
 
"In the first half particularly, I thought we were really good," Aldrich said. "We had a few miscues with ball-screen defense and some turnovers that led to transition baskets, but I was disappointed with the transition in the second half. I thought we started out sluggish at the beginning of the second half, but they were just missing shots and we were making them. We never really picked it up, and they got it back to two, and it was a real close game all of a sudden. We picked up our energy and effort again and made them play a half-court offense and did what we needed to do.
 
"JaShaun was really critical in that stretch. He made some big buckets. I tell you what, he just has a knack for making shots. He raises up, and the thing just seems to go in. We needed that tonight."
 
Now with just two Big South matchups remaining, Longwood will return home for a quick turnaround against High Point this Saturday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. That matchup will be Longwood's final home game and serve as the program's Senior Day ceremony, during which the team will recognize its senior class of Phillips, Smith, Sean Flood and Jaylon Wilson before the game.
 
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