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On Friday night, Longwood guard Walyn Napper was asked about the Big South Championship, the run his team has been on and the obstacles left in their way. 

“Like the man says, we got to get our get back,” Napper said in the post-game press conference. 

That’s a revenge run, a get back, coming to get payback for what’s happened before. And it has been a revenge run of sorts this week for the Lancers, which struggled at times early in the conference schedule. But since the calendar turned to February, the switch has been flipped for Longwood, with the team winning six of the last eight. They ended the regular season with a last-second win over High Point. Then they handled Winthrop 69-56 on Friday in round one of the tournament, revenging a road loss from back in January. Now they’re heading to the Big South Tournament Championship for the second time in three years after beating High Point for the second time in a week, 80-79 in the conference semifinals. 

“We’re still fighting,” Napper said in a tv interview after Saturday’s game. “We’re not done yet.” 

And just like last week’s regular season finale, the Lancers did it by clawing back from a deficit. Down 11 with 6:31 on the clock, Napper hit a 3-pointer that helped bring Longwood all the way back. In overtime, the teams traded buckets, until Longwood’s defense locked in.

Szymon Zapala put the Lancers ahead 78-77, then Napper stole the ball with 13 seconds left. A High Point foul put Johnathan Massie on the foul line, where he sunk both shots, securing the win for the Lancers.

Playing solid defense

The key overall for Longwood was the defense, as they held High Point to just 39.3% shooting on 24 of 61 shots. That includes just 11 of 33 from beyond the three-point line. Longwood also outrebounded the Panthers, picking up 40 compared to High Point’s 29. 

And this was a game where Longwood was very much the underdog coming in. The tournament this year is being played at High Point, so the Panthers had a vocal home court advantage. Overall, only 14% of voters picked the Lancers in a Yahoo Sports poll. And yet, none of that mattered. 

Szymon Zapala led the way Saturday for the Lancers, putting up 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting while adding six rebounds and three blocks on the day. Napper was right behind him with 16 points, filling up the stat sheet with seven assists and four rebounds of his own. Overall, the Lancers had four starters finish in double figures, with nine total players scoring on the day. 

“An incredible, gutsy effort by our guys,” Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich said after the game. “I thought, to do what these guys did in this environment is really a tremendous testament to their character. I’m thrilled we won the game. But I’m really thrilled with the resilience of these guys, their ability to continue to stay the course.”

Big South Championship coming

So what’s next? Longwood plays the wait and see game. It’ll be either Gardner-Webb or UNC Asheville facing off against the Lancers in the Big South Championship Sunday. With 7 minutes left in the first half, UNC Asheville had the early 20-19 lead. Either way, Sunday’s game is an opportunity for the ‘get back’ tour to continue. Gardner-Webb beat Longwood in both of their games this year, 76-64 at Boiling Springs and 72-69 in Farmville. UNC Asheville, meanwhile, split the season series with the Lancers, winning 65-61 at home and then losing in Farmville 80-75. 

“As a kid you dream of moments like this,” said Napper. His accomplishments in the last seven days include a game-winning basket in the regular season finale, a gutsy effort in Friday’s semi-finals and another leading role Saturday.

“We just stick together no matter what comes our way, and we’re just going to continue to keep fighting,” Napper said. “We’re in the championship game now and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Sunday’s game is set to tip at noon on ESPN2.