Updated Bracket
CONWAY, S.C. – No. 3 South seed Gardner-Webb used a dominant rebounding effort and a balanced scoring attack to defeat No. 6 North seed Longwood, 81-65, in Wednesday evening’s final VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men’s Basketball Championship first round tilt at The HTC Center.
Gardner-Webb (18-14) outrebounded the Lancers by 20 boards (42-22) and put six players in double figures in the scoring column. As a result, the Runnin’ Bulldogs notched their sixth win in the last eight games. They will now face No. 2 North seed VMI in the quarterfinal round Friday at 8 p.m.
Jerome Hill headlined Gardner-Webb’s interior dominance, finishing with 12 points and a Big South Tournament first round record 16 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. He was joined in double figures by teammates Tyrell Nelson (15 points), Onzie Branch (career high-equaling 13 points), Tyler Strange (12 points), Jarvis Davis (11 points) and Donta Harper (10 points).
Longwood closes its season at 8-24 despite notching three double-figure scorers of its own. Tristan Carey paced all players with 18 points, going over the 1,500-point mark during the final game of his career. He also chipped in a team-high seven rebounds and four steals. Karl Zeigler added 14 points, while Lucas Woodhouse tallied 10 markers for the Lancers.
Gardner-Webb held Longwood without a made field goal for 3:42 during the middle of the first half, outscoring the Lancers by a 12-3 count during that time to take the lead for good. The run featured six points from the foul line, including two charity tosses by Harper at 10:04 which put the Runnin’ Bulldogs in front, 22-13.
The Gardner-Webb lead reached 13 points (33-20) 4:22 before halftime, when back-to-back three-pointers by Strange and Davis capped off a 9-0 spurt. The Runnin’ Bulldogs took that same 13-point margin into the intermission, claiming a 39-26 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Gardner-Webb stayed on top by double digits the rest of the way, with its lead getting as large as 23 points (71-48) on Hill’s second-chance hoop with 6:06 to go. The Runnin’ Bulldogs then closed out their second victory over the Lancers this season.
Gardner-Webb foiled any chance of a Longwood rally by making 63 percent (17-of-27) of its second-half field goal attempts, finishing at 56.9 percent (29-of-51) for the game. The Lancers shot at a 43.1 percent (25-of-58) clip from the field.
Gardner-Webb Coach Tim Craft
“I just thought it was a good team effort by our guys. We had a lot of guys contribute – six in double figures. We really defended them well in the first half. Offensively, I thought we were really good in transition. On the glass we were terrific, led by (Jerome Hill) with 16 rebounds.
“It helps that we were really able to use our bench. Other than Tyler (Strange) nobody played 30 minutes. I like getting a little confidence, getting a win on this floor. We get a day off and can refresh a little bit. Something that’s been a positive and strength of our team is our depth.
“Our deal is to win the possession, win the four minute war, win the half, and if you do that, you win the game”
Longwood Coach Jayson Gee
“It was a good first year. I thought we laid some foundation in our program. My number-one goal was to establish relevance. I’m really proud of the way our guys played and fought to the end.
“What you’ll see mostly (in the future) is better defense. That’s my staple, my signature; defense. We will be back, make no mistake about it. What you saw this year, you will never see again, and we’re excited about that.
“This team beats a BCS team (TCU); then goes on the road and beats Charleston Southern, which was picked to win the league, and beats a talented Liberty team. I felt that on any given night we could beat anyone out there, and we did that.”