Box score

FARMVILLE, VA—Junior sharpshooter Martiz Washington scored 14 of his team-leading 22 points in the last seven minutes, keying a 29-19 finish in the same span by Longwood, which defeated visiting NJIT, 88-81, in non-conference men's basketball Tuesday night.

 

Washington, who came in having made 55 3-point baskets on the season, made six against NJIT and four of them came in the decisive late push.

 

The Highlanders, who used a great second-half start and then withstood a Longwood rally around the midpoint of the half, were on top, 62-58, after a driving reverse layup by Sammy Schickel with 7:55 left, before Durann Neill made the second of two free throws for Longwood 22 seconds later.

 

Then Washington, who has an exceptionally quick release, hit back-to-back threes in a span of 25 seconds, with the second one putting the Lancers on top to stay, 65-62, with 6:25 left.

 

NJIT, which continued battling, kept the deficit between one and five points until Jeremiah Bowman, who scored seven points in the last 4:46 and finished with 21 points overall, converted a conventional 3-point play to give Longwood an 80-74 advantage with 1:27 left.

 

The Lancers shot 14-for-17 (82 percent) from the foul line for the game, including 8-for-8 beginning with the Neill foul shot that preceded the back-to-back Washington threes that put them ahead to stay.

 

After Washington's 22 and Bowman's 21, Longwood got 15 points and 7 rebounds from center Antwan Carter, 14 points and 10 assists from Aaron Mitchell and 11 points out of Neill.  

 

NJIT, which continued its strong offensive play of the last three weeks, had a balanced offense, with five double-figure scorers against Longwood. The Highlanders, whose high scoring total in their first seven games of the season against Division I opponents was 70 in the season-opener vs. Manhattan, have scored at least 79 in five of their last six games against DI foes.

 

On Tuesday, they had five double-figure scorers, led by a season-high 22 points for sophomore guard Chris Flores, who has shaken an early-December slump to reach double-digit scoring in seven of the last eight games.

 

After Flores, Isaiah Wilkerson scored 17 to go with a team-leading 7 rebounds. Lamar Kearse continued his play as a weapon off the bench, finishing with 14 points, while sophomore starting guard PJ Miller was a point shy of his season scoring high with 11 points, which came on 5-for-7 shooting from floor.

 

Junior center Ryan Regis had one of his finest college games for the Highlanders, making all five of his shots for a career-high 10 points to go along with 6 rebounds. Regis, who shot 35 percent from the field as a freshman and 37 percent as a sophomore, has made a remarkable leap this season, connecting at a 71 percent clip (27-38).

 

The Lancers led 40-36 after a first half that was played on generally even terms. Both teams made a high percentage of their shots, with NJIT connecting a little more than half the time (53 percent; 16-30) and Longwood a little less than half the time (49 percent; 17-35).

 

Longwood, a strong team going from defense to offense, took advantage of some steals for a 15-5 lead in points off of turnovers in the half. Some of the errant NJIT passes were attempts to hit cutters who had beaten their man near the basket, but the Lancers were able to get their hands on the ball and send it the other way, often for easy buckets.

 

NJIT's deficit in points off of turnovers was somewhat offset by a 19-13 rebounding advantage that lifted the Highlanders to a 9-4 lead in second chance points.

 

Bowman of Longwood and NJIT's Flores led their respective teams at the half, with 10 points apiece.

 

Down four to start the second half, the Highlanders came out of the locker room and dominated, using a 13-2 opening spurt to go up, 49-42, after Regis' offensive rebound and layup with 15:47 remaining.

 

NJIT seemed to lose its focus briefly on offense and took some quick, ill-advised jump shots that slowed the rally and prevented the lead from getting bigger. Even so, the Highlanders still held a 51-46 lead after Miller's driving bucket at 13:47.

 

Longwood, which is 7-14 overall, but 6-3 at home, answered with an 8-2 run, capped by a Bowman jumper that put the Lancers back up, 54-53, with 11:31 on the clock.

 

But scores on three straight possessions—a three by Flores and two jump shots by Wilkerson sent NJIT back into a 60-54 lead just past the midpoint of the final half.

 

The Highlanders maintained a slim lead heading into the last seven minutes when Washington and Bowman led Longwood's final push to victory.

 

NJIT, which saw its Division I era-best three-game winning streak halted at Longwood, will return to action with its first Great West Conference road game on Saturday, when the Highlanders visit Chicago State in a game slated for a 4:30 pm (CST) start.

 

The Highlanders opened conference play last week with wins over Texas-Pan American on Wednesday and Houston Baptist on Saturday. Chicago State hosted and defeated the same two teams.