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Winthrop came into Saturday 8-3 and 4-1 in the Big South within their friendly confines in Rock Hill, South Carolina. While most Eagles fans expected their squad to waltz closer to .500 and win their final cross-divisional game of the year, the Longwood Lancers had another plan and shocked Winthrop with a 62-56 win.
Longwood, coming off a brutal 33 point defeat at home to VMI, was led by reigning Big South Freshman of the Week Michael Kessens who scored 15 points and grabbed 5 boards for the Lancers. Longwood's Tristan Carey, David Robinson, and Jeylani Dublin also finished the game in double-figures.
The two teams were tied at halftime at 27, but Kessens took over the first portion of the second half with five straight points. Dubbed the "Swiss Army Knife" the big Swiss native was able to have his way with Winthrop big man Larry Brown out due to injury.
Kessens run propelled the Lancers, but it was freshman point guard Lucas Woodhouse's big three pointer to put the Lancers up by seven with just over six minutes left that was the dagger for Longwood. Woodhouse finished the evening with 7 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Mike Gillian's squad played just a six man rotation for the win.
Winthrop now finds themselves 10-13 and 4-7 in the Big South. The Eagles will need to get things in high gear if they want to climb up the South Division standings for the conference tourney.
Longwood moves to 4-21 on the year and 1-10 in conference. The Lancers now await a three game home-stand starting with division leading High Point on Wednesday night.