North Carolina Central snapped Longwood’s 11-game win streak on Wednesday afternoon, handing it a 79-70 loss at McDougald-McLendon Arena.
The Eagles went into halftime trailing 35-30 but outscored the Lancers by 14 points in the second half to come back and win.
“It ain’t always gonna be the cute, sexy, exotic 3-point plays and layups and finger rolls. You gotta do some tough things,” head coach LeVelle Moton said after the game. “We were yet to do that for a full 40 minutes, so I challenged the guys at halftime. And they responded.”
This win was led by a balanced scoring effort for North Carolina Central. Ja’Darius Harris led the scoring with 21 points. Fred Cleveland Jr. added 16, while Devin Gordon also contributed 14 points. The Eagles made a concerted effort to absorb contact and convert it into points. They drew 24 fouls on the defense, which led to a season-high 31 points on 86% shooting from the charity stripe. They were efficient overall, as they put up 1.11 points per possession on 63% true shooting.
Johnathan Massie recorded 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the way for Longwood. As a team, the Lancers shot 42% (24-of-57) from the field and 15% (3-of-20) from distance. That netted out to an average of 0.99 points per possession.
- 60% of NCCU’s field goals were assisted
- The 9-point loss was Longwood’s largest final deficit of the season
- Po’Boigh King recorded a game-high +11 plus-minus
North Carolina Central proved once again that it is a tough matchup. The Eagles’ next matchup is a Jan. 3 game against Truett-McConnell at McDougald-McLendon Arena. This loss was a rare slip-up for Longwood, which had been playing well recently. It doesn’t get any easier in the Lancers’ next game on Dec. 30. They will face a Dayton team that has been impressive lately.
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