Longwood earns first berth in NCAA Tournament

Longwood fans have plenty of reason to celebrate. David Jensen/Icon Sportswire

Longwood Lancers earn first berth in NCAA Tournament

By Adam Stites | Last updated 3/6/22

The Longwood Lancers are Big South champions and headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history after beating Winthrop, 79-58.

Longwood transitioned to Division I in 2007 and has appeared in the College Basketball Invitational twice in the last three years. With their win in the Big South Tournament final, the Lancers are an automatic qualifier in the 68-team NCAA Tournament field.

LONGWOOD IS DANCING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MEN'S CBB HISTORY‼️ pic.twitter.com/6Z8Iob6724
— ESPN (@espn) March 6, 2022

The win Sunday wasn't much of a surprise given Longwood dominated the Big South for the majority of the regular season. The Lancers were the regular-season champions with a 15-1 conference record and cruised through the Big South Tournament bracket, including its matchup against second-seeded Winthrop in the final.

While the majority of auto-bids will be decided in conference tournament finals next week, Loyola Chicago and Murray State join Longwood as the three auto-bids so far.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi projects Longwood will receive a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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