COLLEGE PARK, MD - After splitting their last two ACC away games with an overtime loss at Wake Forest (83-85) and a strong win against Boston College (73-57), the Maryland Terrapins returned home to Comcast Center tonight to take on the Longwood Lancers from Farmville, VA.

 

Maryland's 106-55 victory really says it all. Maryland took an early lead in the game and never looked back. A series of pull-up jumpers and fast-break lay-ups peppered with an explosive dunk by Jordan Williams put the Terps up 6-23 with fourteen minutes left in the first half. That 17 point lead was due to the tenacity and energy of Landon Milbourne, Eric Hayes, Sean Mosley and Jordan Williams who collectively stole, blocked, dunked and drove the lane over and over again.

 

Maryland head coach Gary Williams tested many different player combinations tonight allowing each and every player to gain valuable playing time. Gary's combinations must have worked, because every player that suited up scored, including sophomore forward Ersin Levent and junior guard David Pearman. Six Maryland players scored in double digits including all five starters and freshman forward James Padgett.

Despite playing only 20 minutes Sean Mosley led all players with 21 points. He shot 8-8 from the field, 1-1 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the charity stripe. He also contributed with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Landon Milbourne wasn't far behind. He scored 19 points, including 7-9 from the field, 1-2 from 3-point range and 4-5 from the line.

Jordan Williams, James Padgett and Dino Gregory also demonstrated great strength around the rim tonight. Williams pulled down 10 rebounds, including 5 offensive rebounds, and scored 13 points. Padgett scored 10 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and shot 4-4 from the field. Gregory also showed great energy in the final minutes of the game despite being up by nearly 50 points. In fact, it was an explosive dunk by Gregory that brought the Terps to their 100th point of the night.

Tonight the Lancer's were simply no match for the Maryland Terrapins. The Terps shot 55.6% held the Lancers to 29.4%, out-rebounded 52-35 and scored 68 points in the paint. Their strength on the glass alone resulted in 30-second chance points.

To their credit the Longwood Lancers never backed down, in fact senior forward Dana Smith led all players in scoring with 25 points. Perhaps jet lag is to blame. Although Farmville VA is not far from College Park, the Lancers have already logged 12,337 miles this season, including 4,721 miles on charter buses and 7,616 miles on airplanes. That is the equivalent of 4.61 trips from Washington, DC to Los Angeles.

For the time being the Lancers are a team without a league. As a Division I Independent they must travel wherever their schedule takes them. By the end of this season they will have traveled 15,016 miles.

The Lancers haven't beaten an ACC team since moving to Division I in the 2004-05 season. With the addition of tonight's loss Longwood now holds a 0-10 record against ACC teams. Earlier this season they lost to both Virginia (85-72) and Virginia Tech (85-50), but tonight's loss against the Maryland Terrapins is certainly the greatest margin of defeat (106-55).

If we learned one thing tonight it's that the Terrapins can turn to their bench for productivity. While Greivis Vasquez scored only 10 points this evening five other players scored in double digits and each and every player contributed to the scoreboard. The bench scored a total of 33 points.

Extra playing time for James Padgett and Dino Gregory also proved that both are effective on the glass and that both might perform even better with a little more time on the court. The same goes for Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker who continue to play well and look strong off the bench.

This will be the last non-conference game for the Terrapins this season. Maryland will resume ACC play against NC State this Saturday, January 23 in College Park.