Kansas State and Longwood will vie for third place in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It’s not how either team expected to spend early Monday evening.

The Wildcats (4-2) dropped a 67-65 decision to Liberty in the second semifinal Sunday night when three shots in the final 10 seconds went awry. The Lancers (6-1), in turn, recorded their first loss after McNeese State’s Sincere Parker scored a career-high 31 points in an 84-69 decision on Sunday.

Michael Christmas scored 12 points and Emanuel Richards and Johan Nziemi each added 11 for Longwood, but Parker’s effort overshadowed the Longwood trio.

“A disappointing night for the Lancers,” Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich said. “While I’m really proud of the group competing in the latter part of the second half, we could not overcome the mental miscues.

“Tonight will be a valuable learning experience as it exposed some weak spots. While we never want to lose, we will learn from this game and be better for it in the future.”

Kansas State will have trouble finding any silver lining in Sunday’s loss. Trailing by two points, the Wildcats had three chances to tie or take the lead on their final possession. Dug McDaniel’s 3-pointer caromed off the rim into the hands of David N’Guessan, who misfired on his putback attempt. McDaniel’s 3-pointer at the buzzer also was off target.

Head coach Jerome Tang tried to put a positive spin on it following the loss.

“At the end of the game, we got a score to cut it to two, and we did it quick so they had to get a shot up,” he said. “Then we got a stop. Then Dug McDaniel had an open 3, and I’ll live with that every day. David N’Guessan got a chance at a putback and we missed.

“Tough people do the next right thing so we’re going to rehydrate, eat, get some rest. The staff will have a game plan put together and we’ll be ready to rock and roll (Monday).”

–Field Level Media