Big South Conference Notebook
Halfcourt Heroics
Saturday night proved to be an exciting night in Radford, Virginia as the Highlanders hosted High Point. After making a baseline jumper with about ten seconds remaining in overtime to put his team up by one, Radford junior guard Whit Holcomb-Faye then had to come through again after High Point senior center Jerry Echenique gave the Panthers an 83-82 lead with under five seconds left in the game with a short jumper. Holcomb-Faye took the inbounds pass dribbled it up court as far as he could and launched a 55-foot shot as the buzzer sounded. The ball hit the front rim and sprung straight up above the basket before falling through the net and giving Radford the improbable 85-83 victory in front of their fans at the Dedmon Center.
Even before Holcomb-Faye made his miracle shot, Radford nailed a clutch shot near the end of regulation by an unlikely source. After High Point junior guard Akeem Scott only made one of two free throws with 22 seconds remaining in regulation, High Point held a three point lead as Radford freshman center Josh Fox drained a three-point basket with only eight seconds remaining to send the game to its extra period. From there, the end of game heroics occurred, making for a memorable night for all of Radford’s fans.
Eagles Alone in First
The buzzer-beater by Holcomb-Faye, combined with Charleston Southern’s 26-point loss at Birmingham-Southern and an 80-66 Winthrop win over Coastal Carolina broke a three-way tie for first place on Saturday and left the Eagles alone in first place as the week ended. Winthrop now has a 5-1 conference record as they extended their winning streak to five games and avenged their earlier loss to Coastal Carolina in their conference opener. Charleston Southern and High Point both fell to 4-2 with their losses and found themselves tied with the red-hot Liberty Flames, who won their fourth straight game on Saturday as they beat UNC Asheville.
Player of the Week
Another 2-0 week leads to another Liberty player getting the Hoopville Big South Player of the Week honor. Last week, it was Leo Lightbourne, and this week, the honor goes to sophomore guard David Dees. Dees averaged 25 points in the two Liberty victories and scored the go-ahead basket late in the game to give Liberty the win over UNC Asheville. To go along with his scoring, Dees did also add 5.5 rebounds per game.
Team Reports
Winthrop Eagles (14-5, 5-1) Last Week: 2-0
As mentioned above, the Eagles find themselves at the top of the standings after winning a pair of games this past week. Winthrop was able to go on the road and come away with a hotly contested 65-57 win at Birmingham-Southern. The Eagles were red-hot in the second half, making nine of their ten three-point attempts and made a late run to put the game away. Coastal Carolina was Winthrop’s second victim, as the Chants came into Winthrop Coliseum and left with an 80-66 loss.
Sophomore guard Torrell Martin continues to lead the way for Winthrop, as he led the team in scoring in both games, putting up a career-high 24 points against Birmingham-Southern and adding 16 points and 10 rebounds against Coastal Carolina. Junior forward James Shuler also had a solid week, looking fully recovered from an ankle injury he had a couple of weeks ago as he scored 15 points in both of the Eagles’ games.
Winthrop will face a couple of tough tests in the week ahead as they battle two of the teams right behind them in the standings. The Eagles will first host Charleston Southern on January 25 before hitting the road to battle High Point on January 29.
Charleston Southern Buccaneers (7-9, 4-2) Last Week: 0-2
An undefeated start to conference play survived four games for the Bucs, but a pair of tough losses has brought the CSU squad back to the pack a bit this week. They started the week at home and fell victim Liberty, 71-59 before hitting the road and getting shellacked by Birmingham-Southern, 67-41. The offensive woes that plagued the Bucs in the non-conference part of the schedule came back to haunt them as they struggled to find the basket, shooting just over 36 percent in both games.
With points hard to come by, there were not too many standout performances for Charleston Southern over the past two games. Senior forward Kurtis Rice did manage 13 points against Liberty, but only scored four in the loss to Birmingham-Southern. The Bucs were led by freshman guard Chris Moore’s 12 points in that game, with junior forward Ferdinand Cain being the only CSU player in double-figures with 11 points.
The Bucs will look to get back in the win column this week with a pair of difficult games. They will first travel to the Winthrop Coliseum on January 25 to battle the Winthrop Eagles, then they will return home and host UNC Asheville on January 29, in the first of four straight home games for CSU.
High Point Panthers (9-10, 4-2) Last Week: 1-1
High Point split a pair of road games this past week, easily defeating Coastal Carolina 79-64 before falling victim to Radford’s halfcourt shot mentioned at the top of this Notebook. In the win at Coastal Carolina, the Panthers were led by the scoring of junior forward Mark Wilson, who tallied 21 points. Senior guard Zione White helped the cause with 14 points and senior center Jerry Echenique scored 11 points. Echenique became the go-to guy in the loss to Radford. Besides giving High Point the late lead in overtime with his shot with five seconds remaining, he led the team with 18 points. Wilson added 16 points, with eight of them coming in the extra period. Senior forward Danny Gathings had a double-double in the game, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
After their recent travels, High Point will get to play host for its two games this week. First, VMI will visit the Millis Center on January 26 before Winthrop comes into town on January 29 in a game that will be regionally televised.
Liberty Flames (6-11, 4-2) Last Week: 2-0
Liberty extended its winning streak to four games, as the Flames won both of their games this week. Liberty first ended Charleston Southern’s perfect league start by winning at the CSU Fieldhouse, 71-59. Then the Flames came back home and battled back from numerous deficits in beating UNC Asheville, 72-71. Liberty trailed by eight at halftime and found themselves behind late before David Dees hit a three-pointer to cut the Bulldog lead to one point, then converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Flames a late two-point lead. Senior forward Leo Lightbourne then hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to ice the game.
Dees was the star of the week for Liberty, leading the team in scoring in both games, with 26 points against Charleston Southern and 24 points against UNC Asheville. Lightbourne had a big game against UNCA, scoring 20 points and pulling down 7 rebounds to go along with the game-clinching free throws.
In looking to extend their current streak, Liberty will have to first defend their home-court, where they have won 13 straight games against conference opponents. They will face VMI at home on January 24 before hitting the road to face rival Radford on January 29.
Radford Highlanders (8-9, 3-3) Last Week: 2-0
The Highlanders had an excellent week, winning both of their contests and putting themselves right back into the middle of the standings after falling near the bottom in the previous week. Radford first started by pulling away in the second half and broke open a close game at VMI and winning, 78-62. Then the Highlanders made the highlight reels as Whit Holcomb-Faye won the game with his halfcourt shot against High Point.
Radford has had a host of strong performances from their top three players. Holcomb-Faye averaged 19.5 points in the two games while senior guard Olumuyiwa Popoola averaged 18.5 points per contest. Sophomore forward Chris Oliver continued his strong year by scoring 17 points in each game, along with grabbing 12 rebounds against VMI and 7 boards against High Point.
UNC-Asheville will be the Highlanders’ next foe, as the Radford will travel to the mountains of North Carolina to face the Bulldogs on January 26. Then the Highlanders will return home to face neighboring Liberty on January 29.
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (5-12, 2-4) Last Week: 1-1
The Bulldogs made their way from one corner of the conference’s footprint to the other last week with a pair of road games. First, the Bulldogs had to go southwest to battle Birmingham-Southern and came out of Alabama with a huge 78-58 victory. However, the travel caught up to UNCA as they headed the opposite way, northeast of their campus, and fought hard before falling late to Liberty, 72-71.
Sophomore guard Steven Rush continued his stellar second season by leading the team in scoring in both games, dropping 20 points against Birmingham-Southern and joining a pair of teammates with 15 points against Liberty. Senior forward Bryan McCullough and sophomore guard K.J. Garland were the other Bulldogs in the game to score 15 points.
UNCA will enjoy a quick stop at home as they host Radford on January 25. However, it will be back on the road as the Bulldogs will make their annual trip to the beach, starting with a contest at Charleston Southern on January 29.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (5-13, 2-4) Last Week: 0-2
The Chants had the misfortune of having to face possibly the two most athletic programs in the conference in the same week, and the results of both games were eerily similar as the Chants have now lost three games in a row. First, Coastal hosted High Point and found it hard to stop High Point’s Mark Wilson as the Panthers handed CCU a 79-64 defeat. Winthrop was Coastal’s second foe of the week, and Coastal could not stop the Eagles’ inside game as they fell 80-66.
Junior guard Pele Paelay moved into the Big South’s scoring lead with a pair of solid games. Paelay first put up 18 points against High Point before lighting up Winthrop for 30 points. Those two performances moved his scoring average up to 18.2 points per game and ahead of Liberty’s Larry Blair.
The Chants find themselves with only on game this week, but it will be a long drive as they have to travel to Birmingham-Southern. Coastal will face BSC on January 24 before taking a week off before their next contest.
Birmingham-Southern Panthers (9-8, 2-4) Last Week: 1-2
The week started ugly for the Panthers, as they fell twice on their home court, a place they rarely lose. However, they were able to save some face by defending their floor in their final game of the week. The first of the losses was an embarrassing 78-58 loss to UNC Asheville. The twenty point defeat marked the largest margin in a loss at Bill Battle Coliseum for the Panthers. Then Birmingham-Southern was unable to stop a late charge by Winthrop as they fell 65-57 to the Eagles. However, BSC was able to quickly turn things around as they completely destroyed Charleston Southern 67-41 to close out the week.
Junior forward Thomas Viglianco led the Panthers in scoring in two of the three games, tallying 14 points in the loss to UNC Asheville, and dropping 17 points in the win over Charleston Southern. Senior guard Jakob Sigurdarson was the leading Panther against Winthrop, scoring 29 points, but he was the only Birmingham-Southern player in double-figures as the Panthers fell by eight points.
The Panthers finish their season-long four-game home stand with a match-up against Coastal Carolina on January 24. Then they will hit the road for a pair of games in Virginia, with the first being at VMI on January 29.
VMI Keydets (5-9, 0-4) Last Week: 0-1
The Keydets only had one chance to end their losing streak this past week, and they were unable to do so as they fell to Radford at home, 78-62, to extend their skid to seven games and remained the only winless team in Big South play. VMI was able to stay with the Highlanders during the first half, but failed to contain Radford in the second half and quickly fell behind and could not climb out. The loss overshadowed a very solid individual performance by sophomore guard Matt Coward, as he led the team with 19 points and added 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Freshman forward Reggie Williams was the only other Keydet player in double-figures, as he scored 12 points.
VMI faces a busy week, playing three games in a six day span. First the Keydets will hit the road, facing Liberty on January 24 before heading to High Point two days later. Then the Keydets will return home and host Birmingham-Southern on January 29 before hitting the road again for their next three games.
