THE OPENING TIP
• Longwood heads to Presbyterian to open up its final two-game road swing of the season.
• The team also heads to Charleston Southern on Saturday before closing the season at home against Radford on the final day of the regular season.
• The Lancers are half a game behind Presbyterian in the Big South standings, with the Blue Hose and UNC Asheville both tied for fourth.
• Over the weekend, Longwood had
Elijah Tucker surpass 500 rebounds in his collegiate career.
• Alphonzo 'Fats' Billups III was named the Big South Co-Player of the Week after back-to-back 20-point efforts.
• The Big South Tournament, sponsored by the Air Force Reserve, is less than a month away, with every team in the league qualifying for the event which runs from March 4-8 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
LAST TIME OUT
• Longwood edged out USC Upstate in overtime 82-75 behind a 25-point performance from
Alphonzo Billups III and an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double by
Elijah Tucker.
• Tucker scored five of his 11 points in OT, and Billups drained six triples after halftime to lead the Lancers.
• For Billups, the 25 points, eight rebounds and six triples all were career highs, and he added three assists and three steals.
• Billups found Tucker cutting to the basket in OT with 20 seconds to play for an and-one that effectively iced the game.
•
Redd Thompson Jr. also added 12 points, and the Lancers went 10-16 as a team from three.
• Karmani Gregory led USC Upstate with 23 points, while Mason Bendinger added 19 and Carmelo Adkins chipped in 13 points.
• Longwood's bench was the difference, with the Lancers getting 46 points from the reserves.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Longwood has had two players this season who have had back-to-back 20-point games:
Elijah Tucker and
Alphonzo Billups III.
• Billups was named the Big South Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points per game over two games last week.
• Seven different players have led the Lancers in scoring in a game this season.
• No player has led Longwood in scoring for more than three straight games. Both
Johan Nziemi and
Elijah Tucker have led the team in scoring in three straight games (Nziemi 11-3 to 11-12, Tucker 1-29 to 1-29).
• Tucker has led the team in scoring nine times, the highest mark on the squad. Longwood is 7-2 when Tucker leads the team in points.
• Longwood has held its opponent to 30 points or fewer in the first half 12 times this season after holding USC Upstate to 28 points in the opening half on Feb. 14.
• The Lancers are 12-1 when leading at the half, with the lone loss coming against an ACC foe on the road at Wake Forest.
• Longwood is 12-4 when four or more players hit double figures. The season-high is six players in double figures, done against Gardner-Webb in the first meeting in Farmville on January 21.
• Longwood is 9-4 when attempting more free throws than its opponent this season, and the Lancers have shot at least 30 free throws in a game eight times.
• The Lancers have at least 10 home wins for a fifth straight season, the longest since the team did so for five seasons in a row from 1985-86 through the 1989-90 season.
• This season, Longwood is 2-1 in overtime, with both wins coming in Big South play.
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Record vs. Presbyterian 11-13
Under Coach Thomas 1-0
Current Streak W 1
First Meeting L 82-71 on 1/26/2013
Last Meeting W 77-70 on 1/10/2026
• Longwood won the first meeting between the two teams 77-70 as
Elijah Tucker led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• Longwood held Presbyterian to 28 first-half points and kept them at arm's length the rest of the way.
•
Jaylen Benard had 11 points, and
Alphonzo Billups III added 10 as the Lancer bench put up 36 points.
STATS COMPARISON
LWU PC
2025-26 Record 14-14 13-14
Conference 6-7 6-6
Points 76.5 71.7
Opp. Points 73 71.5
Scoring Margin +3.5 +0.3
Rebounds 36.7 35.6
Opp. Rebounds 31.9 30.9
Off. Rebounds 11.7 11.4
Opp. Off. Rebounds 9.8 9.7
Rebounding Margin +4.8 +4.7
Field Goal Pct. .463 .473
Opp. Field Goal Pct .443 .443
3-Point Pct. .314 .318
Opp. 3-Point Pct. .319 .356
3-Point FGs 6.1 5.1
Opp. 3-Point FGs 7.8 7.3
Free Throw Pct. .734 .675
Opp. Free Throw Pct. .702 .702
Free Throws Made 16.9 14.8
Opp. Free Throws Made 15.1 14.1
Assists 12.9 13.3
Turnovers 14 13.2
Turnovers Forced 14.8 10.7
Turnover Margin +0.8 -2.5
Assist/Turnover Ratio 0.9 1
Steals 8.7 5.5
Blocked Shots 2.5 4.4
#GoWood #HorsePower