BOILING SPRINGS – Jaheam Cornwall came off the bench to score 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting Saturday afternoon and Gardner-Webb rallied for a 60-57 win over Longwood.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (11-12, 6-4 Big South) closed the game on a 13-2 run and won their 11th home game in a row. GWU is 9-0 in Paul Porter Arena this season, but needed a strong effort over the final six minutes to pull this one out out.

Cornwall scored six points in the charge – all on driving layups in traffic – to lead the way. The Brooklyn, N.Y., freshman drove for a layup with 5:47 left to pull Gardner-Webb within 55-49 and struck again after a pair of David Efianayi free throws to make the score 55-53 at the 4:29 mark.

Both teams scored just once over the next two minutes, with Liam O'Reilly's fastbreak layup and free throw with 2:35 remaining cutting the lead to 57-56. 

Cornwall's penetration and assist to Patrick Zeck for a layup with 2:03 remaining put Gardner-Webb up for good – 58-57 – and his final bucket with 1:22 to go provided the final margin. The Runnin' Bulldogs played tough on the perimeter defensively in the final minute to keep the Lancers (6-17, 3-7 Big South) from tying the score.

Longwood led by as many as nine in the first half, as Gardner-Webb struggled from long range (2-for-10) in the opening 20 minutes and saw Efianayi and O'Reilly combined to go just 5-of-15 from the floor overall. GWU did rally, with Cornwall coming off the bench to nail a pair of threes – the final splash giving Gardner-Webb a 28-26 lead with 2:11 to play before halftime.

Longwood responded with a free throw to pull within one moments later, and got an off balance trey from B.K. Ashe with 49 seconds remaining to go up 30-28 at the break.

Gardner-Webb pulled within one a the 14:41 mark in the second half when Cornwall drained his third three-pointer of the game. Longwood had a counterpunch, getting six in a row from leading scorer Isaiah Walton to spark a 13-4 run that put the visitors up 53-43 with 8:24 remaining on the clock.

Gardner-Webb's defensive effort tightened things up from there, and penetration from Efianayi and Cornwall began to help chip away at the lead. Efianayi sank two free throws with 7:12 remaining to cut the lead to 53-47 and Cornwall's layup less than two minutes later started the game-changing run.

It was Cornwall's first game back from injury since January 9, and missed the next five games.

Gardner-Webb shot 41.1 percent for the game (23-of-56), but shot 46.2 percent in the second half despite its tough day from long range (4-of-17, 23.5 percent). GWU shot 5-of-7 (71.4 percent), with all of those makes coming in the paint.

Cornwall was 7-of-7 overall from the floor, including a 3-for-3 night from long range. He added one assist and did not turn the ball over in an efficient 16 minutes. Efianayi led GWU with a game-high 20 points, and dished off four assists (no turnovers).

DJ Laster added 11 points and six boards, with Gardner-Webb owning a 38-31 edge on the glass. L'Hassane Niangane came off the bench to supply seven rebounds (six offensive), two points and a career-high four blocked shots. Zeck added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks inside.

Longwood cooled to 39.6 percent for the game after a solid start to the second half. The Lancers made 5-of-19 from three-point range (26.3 percent) and got 16 points from Walton. Ashe added 10 points and Jahleem Montague scored nine off the bench.

Gardner-Webb was able to get out in transition at times, holding a 13-2 edge in that category. GWU also outscored Longwood by a 36-28 margin in the paint, and used Cornwall's production to hold a 24-13 edge in bench scoring.

Gardner-Webb will hit the road again next Thursday, traveling to face first-place Radford on ESPNU. Tip time is set for 7:00 pm on February 1.