Longwood game journal

So I went “cone of silence” tonight to watch the MASN delayed feed and therefore haven’t been able to check the Boards or follow Dudley, Barber, and co. on Twitter.  Seems the best way to approach this post is to steal from Simmons and just keep a running journal of this FarmVegas Extravaganza sponsored by Centra Southside Hospital (production value for this one could be legendary!)

1st Half 20:00 – Atmosphere is outstanding.  First ever televised game for the Longwood Lancers (really, the Lancers?  I don’t know why, but this just doesn’t make sense to me for some reason) and they’ve clearly sold out the 1700 seats they have.  Could be tough for the Dukes as this is like a great high school game.  Honestly had zero idea Longwood had students into this enough paint their chests and make signs.  Props to the Farmville faithful, known to themselves as the Lancer Lunatics.

19:50 – Wells launches his first turnaround three right out of the gate and I actually thought to myself, “Wow, that wasn’t actually that bad for Wells since the hand was not literally touching his face.”

18:30 – Ref gives the Dukes a HUGE break by gifting a charge call when he could easily have whistled Denzel for his 2nd.  Longwood then knocks down a three off glass.  Crowd really into it.

17:00 – Humpty Hitches hits second trey in a row.  Man that was nice of the NCAA to get him eligible.  JMU (Emmons and Hitch) and Auburn are clearly showing the man is gettin’ soft.

Under 16:00 timeout:  Back-to-back school ads.  JMU’s underwhelming, but cool Join the Movement 25k Strong football ad preceded by an absolute winner from Longwood.  Reporter to student: So, you’ve been working at a law firm?  Student: Yeah, and I haven’t even graduated.  What he didn’t say: Shredding documents and cleaning toilets is killer. 

14:23 – Bowles picks up second on offense, Flores in.  Sweet reverse layup pulls the Lancers (still am amused it’s the Lancers) w/in 1.

11:45 – Third layup in row for Longwood, now up 18-16.  Lazy-assed defense from the Dukes.  Goins must have thought the game was outdoors as he’s wearing what appears to be a parka under his uniform.  Seriously, his long sleeves are thick enough to make you think he’s got handwarmers tucked away in there.

Under 12 timeout: Club seating at Bridgeforth commercial.  Never gets old.  Back to action and Bowles gives up another layup to avoid picking up his third, then Jackson promptly turns it over.  Jackson’s going to be great, but every time he comes in he is apparently obligated to commit a Bill Walton “terrible” turnover.  Wells takes  a charge, first time for everything, but looked annoyed doing it.

8:30 – Back-to-back wide open threes for Longwood, Dukes down six.  JMU could make Rich Rodriguez look like a defensive genius right now.  Pathetic.

8:00 – Two possessions, two horrendous launches from Wells.  Second one hit nothin’ but net.  Julius’ game in a nutshell.  Dukes back within five.

1: 29 – Dukes down six, terrible D so far.  But Humpty hits another three to halve the lead.  Seriously impressed with Longwood crowd.  Should serve as a reminder that bigger is not always better, especially in basketball.  Always better to have a full, tiny gym than a half-empty big gym.

Halftime: 41-36 Longwood after a solid defensive stop by Uncle Ron favorite Ben Louis.  41 points to Longwood.  Nothing more to say really.  Nice history of Longwood basketball.  Amazing optimism for a team with no conference.  During halftime interview with Longwood president, he gets a roll call cheer led by a guy in whiteface.   Really? whiteface? really?  For the Dukes, 20 minutes to prevent the “horrendous loss” on the resume.  New JMU Basketball commercial using holograms developed using the same special effects guy from Return of the Jedi.

19:41 – Lots of individual heckling leads to quick turnover from JMU and bucket for Longwood.  Not a good omen.

14:53 – Hitchens with a 5-0 run of his own to cut it to one, Longwood scores immediately.  Bowles reverse thunder back to one, Longwood hits a three.  Great action, never had an under 16 timeout until 13:41 since no stoppages.  Dukes down four and still seems to have zippy idea what they’re doing on defense.  But they are taking it a little more seriously right now.

11:19 – Semenov makes his second steal after hitting a three, Dukes down three.  Announcer mentions its time for Devon Moore to step up.  Surprisingly comptenet team on the mics even with a few anachronistic basketball terms here and there.

10:23 – Third foul on Longwood’s big gun, Carter, could be useful.  Followed up by another cheapie against the Lancers and the mini-crowd is getting restless.

9:40 – Dunk by Moore on the open break gives JMU it’s first lead since early in the game at 60-59.  Carter picks up his fourth, JMU needs to take a advantage!  Moore drives and has a chance for a three-point play.  Finally figuring out he’s the fastest in the gym.

8:44 – Jam for Bowles, Dukes now up six.  Shoutout to Nate Frost as the Hammer is indeed down, Ward!  Lancer Lunatics not giving up yet though as crowd comes to life again.

6:56 – Semenov draws offensive foul with classic Euroflop!  Vlade would be proud.  Good thing Louis is involved in the cap n’ trade program to offset any rubbing off Wells has done on teammates’ defensive games.  Foul was on Carter and he’s out.  Tough way to go.

6:29 – Tech on Longwood for something off camera and now we know for sure that Longwood should NEVER be confused with Liberty.  Very un-family-friendly cheers raining down in unison.  Well played, Lancer Lunatics.  Hopefully FCC doesn’t have the resources to audit Fox Sports Atlantic on a Wednesday in December.

3:44 – Dukes have been threatening to go full PyschoKiller and put this one away but a rare turnover from Denzel gives Lancers life down 10.  Semenov has put on a defensive clinic to bring the Dukes all the way back in the second half.  Great floor game from Moore who has come to life offensively and Bowles is just filling the stat sheet like usual now.

1:30 – Dukes by six, great effort to come back from Longwood.  This season is going to rise and fall on whether Wells can go full Les Miles, forget critics like me, and get his mojo back.  JMU is getting great contributions from lots of guys playing their roles well, but he’s the x-factor for sure.

Dukes are winning going away.  Terrible defensive first half, but a very strong effort in the second half along with good coaching (Semenov’s insertion, telling Moore to go to the hole) allowed talent to overcome energy and emotion from a very game Longwood team.  88-78 Final.  6-1 on the season and starting to come together.