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Longwood men’s basketball stayed unbeaten at home, but it didn’t come easy against Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday night.

The Lancers (8-2) narrowly edged UMES (2-10) 80-76 thanks to a little hustle and muscle after halftime.

Johan Nziemi and Michael Christmas were a bruising, and effective, duo down low as they dominated the glass after halftime. The two gobbled up 11 offensive boards between them, and Longwood turned 15 offensive boards into 17 second chance points in the final 20 minutes.

Nziemi ripped down a career best 10 boards, and Christmas added a 19-point, 10-rebounds, 5-assist double-double.

“Our 19 offensive rebounds, I thought Johan and Michael, in particular, did a really good job,” said Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich postgame. “If they don’t do that, we don’t win the game.”

However, it was one of Longwood’s guards that grabbed one of the biggest offensive boards of the game late, with Colby Garland capping off a fantastic night with an offensive rebound with three seconds to play and a two-point lead. He drained to free throws to seal the deal. He had a career high 22 points and added five assists and three steals.

“Colby had a good floor game,” said Aldrich. “He obviously shot the ball well and led the team well, and he had five assists. I thought he was really good defensively. Probably the most important thing he did for us, in my opinion, was in the last three minutes. He really sat down and defended, and he got the key rebound to end the game.”

That effort and grit helped offset a night where Maryland Eastern Shore simply didn’t miss. The Hawks made tough shot after tough shot, going 22-38 from the floor. Evan Johnson fired home 23 points, and KC Shaw added 21 more.

Longwood men’s basketball found a way

But Longwood, once again, found a way. Garland and Christmas gave Longwood life in the early going to help offset Johnson and Shaw’s scorching start.

The UMES pairing hit a variety of pull-ups to propel the Hawks to an 11-point advantage near the midway point of the first half.

“Credit Maryland Eastern Shore,” Aldrich said. “I thought they played really well. I thought they were very consistent. They were who they were throughout the game. I think they are going to win a fair number of games when they get back to playing in conference. They’ve had a hard schedule.”

However, Garland provided timely buckets, and Christmas hit a pair of big threes as well. Meanwhile, the Lancer defense forced a dozen turnovers and turned it into 13 points the other way to pull Longwood back into the game.

Finally, Christmas hit a three late in the half for a one-point lead, but UMES hit two foul shots to take a 40-39 lead at the break.

After halftime, the story stayed the same. The second half featured nine ties and seven lead changes. UMES, when it got a shot, didn’t miss much. Longwood countered by forcing nine turnovers and hoovering up better than 60 percent of their own misses.

That kept the score within four points for the final 20 minutes. UMES took a 74-70 lead with 4:24 to play, but Christmas grabbed his own miss and drew a foul. He sank both free throws before Garland drew a charge on the other end.

Then, Christmas tied the game after grabbing yet another offensive board and putting it home. Garland then knifed the ball free on defense and fed Angelo Brizzi on the break for a go-ahead dunk, 76-74, with 2:19 to go.

‘You want so much more’

“I’m proud of Michael,” Aldrich said. “What an unbelievably wonderful person. He is a young man who loves this university, loves this town and community and opted to come back here to really invest in the program. I didn’t love some of the shots he took in the first half, but that’s a young man who works on his game tirelessly. The shots he took in the second half, those were great shots. That’s a young man who’s a good shooter. He shot almost 40 percent from three last year. We’re going to live with those. I was proud of what he did.”

Shaw tied the game back up with free throws at 76 apiece, but Nziemi tipped an offensive board to Christmas for a deuce to give Longwood men’s basketball the lead for good with 57 seconds left.

The defense compelled a miss, and then Garland grabbed the game-sealing offensive board to secure the win.

“As I told the guys, we’ve got to celebrate the win, but, at the same time, don’t accept in victory what you would not accept in defeat,” Aldrich added. “We, as coaches, get to see them in practice. We get to see them in workouts. We see who they are and who they can potentially be both individually and as a group. So for us, you just want so much more for them because they can play so much better, and I don’t think we hit the standard tonight.”

When does Longwood play next?

The Lancers stay home and host Mary Baldwin on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+, with Sam Hovan and John Feinstein on the call.