{"id":1775,"date":"2010-12-01T23:01:09","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T04:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=1775"},"modified":"2010-12-01T23:01:09","modified_gmt":"2010-12-02T04:01:09","slug":"longwood-game-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=1775","title":{"rendered":"Longwood game journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 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!)<\/p>\n

1st Half 20:00 – <\/strong>Atmosphere is outstanding.\u00a0 First ever televised game for the Longwood Lancers (really, the Lancers?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Could be tough for the Dukes as this is like a great high school game.\u00a0 Honestly had zero idea Longwood had students into this enough paint their chests and make signs.\u00a0 Props to the Farmville faithful, known to themselves as the Lancer Lunatics.<\/p>\n

19:50 –<\/strong> 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.”<\/p>\n

18:30 – <\/strong>Ref gives the Dukes a HUGE break by gifting a charge call when he could easily have whistled Denzel for his 2nd.\u00a0 Longwood then knocks down a three off glass.\u00a0 Crowd really into it.<\/p>\n

17:00 –<\/strong>\u00a0Humpty Hitches hits second trey in a row.\u00a0 Man that was nice of the NCAA to get him eligible.\u00a0 JMU (Emmons and Hitch) and Auburn are clearly showing the man is gettin’ soft.<\/p>\n

Under 16:00 timeout:\u00a0 <\/strong>Back-to-back school ads.\u00a0 JMU’s underwhelming, but cool Join the Movement 25k Strong football ad preceded by an absolute winner from Longwood.\u00a0 Reporter to student: So, you’ve been working at a law firm?\u00a0 Student: Yeah, and I haven’t even graduated.\u00a0 What he didn’t say:\u00a0Shredding documents and cleaning toilets is killer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

14:23 – <\/strong>Bowles picks up second on offense, Flores in.\u00a0 Sweet reverse layup pulls the Lancers (still am amused it’s the Lancers) w\/in 1.<\/p>\n

11:45 –<\/strong>\u00a0Third layup in row for Longwood, now up 18-16.\u00a0 Lazy-assed defense from the Dukes.\u00a0 Goins must have\u00a0thought the game was outdoors as he’s wearing what appears to be a parka under his uniform.\u00a0 Seriously, his long sleeves are thick enough to make you think he’s got handwarmers tucked away in there.<\/p>\n

Under 12 timeout:<\/strong>\u00a0Club seating at Bridgeforth commercial.\u00a0 Never gets old.\u00a0 Back to action and Bowles gives up another layup to avoid picking up his third, then Jackson promptly turns it over.\u00a0 Jackson’s going to be great, but every time he comes in he is apparently obligated to commit a Bill Walton “terrible” turnover.\u00a0 Wells takes\u00a0 a charge, first time for everything, but looked annoyed doing it.<\/p>\n

8:30 –<\/strong> Back-to-back wide open threes for Longwood, Dukes down six.\u00a0 JMU\u00a0could make\u00a0Rich Rodriguez look like a defensive genius right now.\u00a0 Pathetic.<\/p>\n

8:00 <\/strong>–\u00a0Two possessions, two horrendous launches from Wells.\u00a0 Second\u00a0one\u00a0hit nothin’ but net.\u00a0 Julius’ game in\u00a0a nutshell.\u00a0 Dukes back within five.<\/p>\n

1: 29 <\/strong>– Dukes down six, terrible D so far.\u00a0 But Humpty hits another three to halve the lead.\u00a0 Seriously impressed with Longwood crowd.\u00a0 Should serve as a reminder that bigger is not always better, especially in basketball.\u00a0 Always better to have a full, tiny gym than a half-empty big gym.<\/p>\n

Halftime<\/strong>: 41-36\u00a0Longwood after\u00a0a solid defensive stop by\u00a0Uncle Ron favorite Ben Louis.\u00a0 41\u00a0points to Longwood.\u00a0 Nothing more to say really.\u00a0 Nice history of Longwood basketball.\u00a0 Amazing optimism for a team with no conference.\u00a0 During halftime interview with Longwood president, he gets a roll call cheer led by a guy in whiteface.\u00a0\u00a0 Really? whiteface? really?\u00a0 For the Dukes, 20 minutes to prevent the “horrendous loss” on the resume.\u00a0 New JMU Basketball commercial using holograms developed using the same special effects guy from Return of the Jedi.<\/p>\n

19:41\u00a0– <\/strong>Lots of individual heckling leads to quick turnover from JMU and bucket for Longwood.\u00a0 Not a good omen.<\/p>\n

14:53 – <\/strong>Hitchens with a 5-0 run of his own to cut it to one, Longwood scores immediately.\u00a0 Bowles reverse thunder back to one, Longwood hits a three.\u00a0 Great action, never had an under 16 timeout until 13:41 since no stoppages.\u00a0 Dukes down four and still seems to have zippy idea what they’re doing on defense.\u00a0 But they are taking it a little more seriously right now.<\/p>\n

11:19 – <\/strong>Semenov makes his second steal after hitting a three, Dukes down three.\u00a0 Announcer mentions its time for Devon Moore to step up.\u00a0 Surprisingly comptenet team on the mics even with a few anachronistic basketball terms here and there.<\/p>\n

10:23 – <\/strong>Third foul on Longwood’s big gun, Carter, could be useful.\u00a0 Followed up by another cheapie against the Lancers and the mini-crowd is getting restless.<\/p>\n

9:40 – <\/strong>Dunk by Moore on the open break gives JMU it’s first lead since early in the game at 60-59.\u00a0 Carter picks up his fourth, JMU needs to take a advantage!\u00a0 Moore drives and has a chance for a three-point play.\u00a0 Finally figuring out he’s the fastest in the gym.<\/p>\n

8:44 – <\/strong>Jam for Bowles, Dukes now up six.\u00a0 Shoutout to Nate Frost as the Hammer is indeed down, Ward!\u00a0 Lancer Lunatics not giving up yet though as crowd comes to life again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>6:56 – <\/strong>Semenov draws offensive foul with classic Euroflop!\u00a0 Vlade would be proud.\u00a0 Good thing Louis is involved in the cap n’ trade program to offset any rubbing off Wells has done on teammates’ defensive games.\u00a0 Foul was on Carter and he’s out.\u00a0 Tough way to go.<\/p>\n

6:29 – <\/strong>Tech on Longwood for something off camera and now we know for sure that Longwood should NEVER be confused with Liberty.\u00a0 Very un-family-friendly cheers raining down in unison.\u00a0 Well played, Lancer Lunatics.\u00a0 Hopefully FCC doesn’t have the resources to audit Fox Sports Atlantic on a Wednesday in December.<\/p>\n

3:44 – <\/strong>Dukes have been threatening to go full PyschoKiller and put this one away but a rare turnover from Denzel gives Lancers life down 10.\u00a0 Semenov has put on a defensive clinic to bring the Dukes all the way back in the second half.\u00a0 Great floor game from Moore who has come to life offensively and Bowles is just filling the stat sheet like usual now.<\/p>\n

1:30 <\/strong>– Dukes by six, great effort to come back from Longwood.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 JMU is getting great contributions from lots of guys playing their roles well, but he’s the x-factor for sure.<\/p>\n

Dukes are winning going away.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 88-78 Final.\u00a0 6-1 on the season and starting to come together.<\/p>\n

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