ABILENE, Texas — Abilene Christian welcomed Longwood to the Teague Center on Wednesday night to close out their non-conference schedule. After leading by just on at the half, the Wildcats broke the game open in the second half and came away with the 74-58 win. ACU moves to 9-2 on the season and secured the longest win streak in the DI era.
Key Plays
- Coryon Mason got the scoring started with a pullup jumper in the lane.
- Airion Simmons found Mahki Morris wide open in the lane to give the Wildats the early 4-0 lead.
- Back-to-back threes from Morris and Damien Daniels pushed ACU out to an early 10-2 advantage.
- A three from Longwood's Deshaun Wade kicked started a 13-2 run for the Lancers that pushed them to a four-point lead with 7:57 left to play in the first half.
- Tobias Cameron hit two free throws and then a three-pointer that regained the lead for the Wildcats, 23-22.
- Daniels hit his second three of the night to tie the game at 28. The teams traded scores down the stretch of the first half and ACU led 35-34 going into the break.
- Mason started the second half with a steal and dunk that pushed the Wildcats lead to four.
- Reggie Miller hit a deep three from the win that pushed ACU's lead to six with just over 12 minutes to play.
- After the Lancers called a timeout with nine minutes remaining, the Wildcats came out of the timeout and scored six-straight points. Morris fed Simmons in the paint, Immanuel Allen got a steal and finished at the other end, and Damien Daniels went the length of the floor off a defensive stop. The Wildcats lead grew to 14 and it forced another Longwood timeout.
- ACU went 8-10 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the game.
Stat Pack
- This win moves the Wildcats to 9-2 on the season and matches some of their best non-conference starts since jumping to DI.
- ACU is one of five WAC schools who will enter conference play with at least nine wins on the season.
- Mahki Morris and Damien Daniels led the team with 17 points each. Daniels went 5-7 from the floor and added four assists and two steals on the night.
- Immanuel Allen was a perfect 5-5 from the floor with 10 points for his fifth double-digit scoring outing of the year.
- The Wildcats were plus-five in turnover margin and tallied 11 steals on the night.
- While Coryon Mason scored just nine points on the night, he added a season-high six rebounds and three assists.
- The team was efficient from the floor once again shooting 50 percent from the field for the game.
- ACU held the Lancers to just six field goals and 19 percent shooting in the second half. Longwood finished shooting just 33 percent from the floor and 22 percent from three.
Coach and Player Interview
Up Next
The Wildcats will get a short break for the holidays before heading on the road to face Utah Valley and Dixie State in their first WAC action of the year. ACU will be back at home January 6 when they host SFA and January 8 when they host Sam Houston at 6 p.m. for their MBB Alumni night.
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