By CHARLIE PARENT
Longwood took down No. 1 seed High Point 80-79 in the Big South Semifinals Saturday behind 17 points off the bench from big-man Symon Zapala.
The Lancers had a balanced attack, seeing four players in double-figures including Walyn Napper (16), Elijah Tucker (13) and Michael Christmas (12).
“Today was a special victory for our team and program,” head coach Griff Aldrich told ZAGSBLOG. “[It’s] significant to have been in the semifinals 3 out of the last 4 years – and the finals 2 of the last three years. [I’m] extremely proud of this group’s resilience and toughness to overcome tremendous odds against a very good team in a hostile environment. Coaches always want their teams to be tough – and today we showed great toughness and perseverance.”
High Point came into the game as the surefire bet to win the Big South, and claim a 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, per Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology.
Longwood entered the Big South Tournament as a five-seed after going just 6-10 in conference play. They beat High Point 74-72 last Saturday in the final game of the regular season and ultimately get the best of the Panthers again.
The Lancers will take on the winner of UNC Asheville and Gardner Webb. UNC Asheville is the league’s defending champion, led by Big South Player of the Year Drew Pember.
“Tomorrow will require even greater levels of effort, toughness and execution in order to come out on top,” Aldrich said. “Today we didn’t play well for 40 minutes. Tomorrow that will be required for us to win the championship.”
Follow Charlie on Twitter
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram
And Like ZAGS on Facebook
