This Week in Big South Men's Basketball (3/2)
After one of the craziest regular seasons in Big South Conference history, the finish line has been crossed. Seven teams finished with ten or more conference victories, with four of them in the Southern Division. The defending tournament champions, Liberty, finished with their second consecutive 20-loss season. High Point won the Northern Division, despite losing star Allan Chaney to a heart condition and guard Adam Weary to an injured ankle suffered in a loss at Gardner-Webb.
Now, we move to the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championships, where we see if yet another underdog can cut down the nets. Can High Point ride their recent hot streak all the way to Dayton? Will Winthrop’s recent history of defeating Liberty in the first round of the tournament (2002, 2006 and 2010) and then claiming the championship continue? Could another 20-loss team storm the court? One thing is for sure -- this tournament will be one for the ages.
2014 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championships First Round:
#4 South Winthrop (17-12, 10-6) vs. #5 North Liberty (11-20, 5-11), Wednesday, noon ET
#3 North Radford (20-11, 10-6) vs. #6 South Presbyterian (6-25, 2-14), Wednesday, 27 minutes after game 1
#4 North Campbell (12-19, 6-10) vs. #5 South Charleston Southern (12-17, 6-10), Wednesday, 6:00pm ET
#3 South Gardner-Webb (17-14, 10-6) vs. #6 North Longwood (8-23, 3-13), 27 minutes after game 3
Quarterfinals:
#1 North High Point (16-13, 12-4) vs. WU/LU winner, Friday, noon ET
#2 South UNC Asheville (16-14, 10-6 BSC) vs. RU/PC winner, Friday, 27 minutes after game 1
#1 South Coastal Carolina (18-12, 11-5) vs. CU/CSU winner, Friday, 6:00pm ET
#2 North VMI (18-11, 11-5) vs. GWU/LW winner, Friday, 27 minutes after game 3
Semifinals:
Friday Game 1 winner vs. Friday Game 2 winner, Saturday, noon ET
Friday Game 3 winner vs. Friday Game 4 winner, Saturday, 27 minutes after game 1
Finals:
Saturday Game 1 winner vs. Saturday Game 2 winner, Sunday, noon ET, ESPN2
Game of the Week
Winthrop 107, UNC Asheville 100 (OT): Was there any doubt? One of the wackiest games in a wild conference season is the clear winner of this week’s honor. Winthrop trailed by ten points with 1:24 to play, and the game surely had to have been over -- right? The Eagles went on an 11-1 run over that final 1:24 to tie the game at 94 and send the game to overtime. Winthrop outscored the Bulldogs 13-6 in the extra period to take home one of the most improbable wins the program has enjoyed in recent memory.
Asheville’s Andrew Rowsey poured in 37 points to lead all scorers, though just two of those points came in the final 13 minutes of the game. Winthrop’s Keon Johnson paced the Eagles with 27 points, including a key three in the final minute of regulation. Keon Moore added 22, with the most important bucket of the night. Moore drilled a three from the right corner with :00.3 to play, sending the game to overtime.
Our (Unofficial) All-Conference Ballot
First Team
John Brown, High Point
D.J. Covington, VMI
Javonte Green, Radford
Rodney Glasgow, VMI
Andrew Rowsey, UNC Asheville
Second Team
Jordan Downing, Presbyterian
Jaron Lane, UNC Asheville
Jerome Hill, Gardner-Webb
Keon Moore, Winthrop
D.J. Cunningham, UNC Asheville
Third Team
Warren Gillis, Coastal Carolina
Tristan Carey, Longwood
Antwan Burrus, Liberty
Lucas Woodhouse, Longwood
QJ Peterson, VMI
Player of the Year
John Brown, High Point
Freshman of the Year
Andrew Rowsey, UNC Asheville
Coach of the Year
Scott Cherry, High Point
Last Week’s Results
Tuesday, February 25
Liberty 90, Longwood 76
Wednesday, February 26
Coastal Carolina 70, Presbyterian 51
Radford 82, Campbell 78
Winthrop 107, UNC Asheville 100 (OT)
High Point 70, VMI 67
Gardner-Webb 78, Charleston Southern 76
Friday, February 28
High Point 56, Campbell 53
Saturday, March 1
Coastal Carolina 63, Charleston Southern 61
Winthrop 82, Presbyterian 60
Radford 87, Liberty 83
UNC Asheville 83, Gardner-Webb 71
VMI 86, Longwood 66
