Fast Start: Takeaways From Longwood’s combined 6-1 start

Published 9:11 pm Thursday, November 14, 2024

Longwood’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have combined for a 6-1 start through the first week and a half of the regular season.

The start represents the best combined start through seven combined games for the two teams in more than a decade.

Both teams are gearing up for Saturday matchups, with the Lancer men hosting UT Martin at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at www.longwoodlancers.com/tickets. The Lancer women, meanwhile, are on the road at Georgia Southern at 11 a.m.

Here are six takeaways from Longwood’s season so far.

1. Defense leads the charge for the Lancer men, much like it always has. Longwood has held back-to-back opponents below 70 points, and they have given up a total of five made threes in the process. Opposing teams are 5-36 from downtown in the past two games against Longwood, and the Lancers have held their opponents to 25 percent shooting from three on the season.

2. The same story is true for the Longwood women, although the process may look a bit different. The Lancer women rank 16^th in the nation in steals per game with 15.8, which also leads the Big South. Both Malea Brown (3.5 steals per game) and Kiki McIntyre (3 steals per game) rank in the top five in the Big South and top 100 in the nation.

3. Longwood’s men go to the free throw line. A lot. The team has shot at least 30 free throws in each of their three games, and the Lancers are third in the nation with 37.7 free throw attempts per game. In addition, the team is also third in the nation in makes per game at 27.3. Longwood has had a player shoot at least 10 free throws in a game four times this season (KJ McClurg twice, Michael Christmas, Johan Nziemi) after having that happen in seven games last year.

4. Longwood’s women are dominating the glass, leading the Big South in rebounds per game, offensive rebounds per game and rebounding margin. Otaifo Esenabhalu serves as the tip of the spear with 10.3 points per game, and she was the first Lancer to post back-to-back double-doubles since Akila Smith did so in 2021-22.

5. The Longwood men are deep. As in REALLY deep. The Lancers rank 50th in the nation in bench points per game at 35, a mark that is tied for the lead in the Big South. Four times, a bench player has scored in double figures. The team has had at least nine players score in each of their three games this season as well.

6. The same story rings true for the Lancer women. They, too, are deep. They lead the Big South with 39.5 bench points per game, which ranks 12th in the nation. The tally represents a tick more than half of the team’s points, as the Lancers average 76 points per game. Seven times, a player off the bench has scored in double figures.