Longwood wins Big South tournament to earn first NCAA Tournament bid in program history

BY HENRY EISENBERG

For the first time in program history, Longwood will make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament after becoming the second Division 1 team to punch its ticket, defeating Winthrop 79-58 on Sunday.

FIRST TIME FEELING! 🕺

Longwood is heading to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history after winning the Big South Championship! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/lzOvzTnRhv

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 6, 2022

The Lancers squeezed by its first two Big South Tournament matchups, defeating North Carolina A&T in Overtime Friday and South Carolina Upstate 79-70 on Saturday.

Longwood’s matchup Sunday was a different story as they went 10-for-17 from beyond the arc and easily dispatchedwith the 23-9 Eagles.

Senior forward Isaiah Wilkins continued his great tournament play with 19 points and eight rebounds. The Wake Forest transfer averaged 15.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in three Big South Tournament contests.

Sunday’s win marks an amazing turnaround for head coach Griff Aldrich since taking over Longwood’s program in 2019. After posting a 5-11 conference record in his first season, the Lancers finished 15-1 in conference play in 2021-22.

Our 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐄 is only beginning.

Your Lancers clinched the 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗨𝗟𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 and the #1 seed in the @BigSouthSports tournament with a win tonight v. Radford.

Amazing feeling to do it in front of 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐒! #OnTheRise pic.twitter.com/txOZd5uJzq

— Longwood Men's Basketball (@LongwoodMBB) February 24, 2022

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