Big South Conference Notebook
Oh My, VMI
After a promising start to the season during their non-conference schedule, the VMI Keydets have fell on very hard times as their losing streak has now reached ten games after an 0-3 week. With a win over Virginia Tech in early December and five wins in their first seven games, it looked as if VMI could pick up a healthy share of wins in the Big South this year, however, they have found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard in all seven of their conference games, with only one of those games being decided by less than ten points.
Bart Bellairs’ squad can point to many reasons why they are struggling. They turn the ball over nearly eighteen times a game and though they take a lot of shots from behind the arc, they have rarely been able to make enough shots from there to avoid long scoring droughts. Things do not appear to get much easier for the Keydets either, as they will finish their first rotation through the conference with a game at first-place Winthrop on Monday night.
Ice Ice Baby
Speaking of Winthrop, their highly-anticipated match-up against the high-octane Panthers of High Point was postponed over the weekend due to an ice/snow storm that hit the Carolinas. The game would have pitted the top two teams in the standings at High Point’s Millis Center in front of an anticipated big crowd and regional television cameras. No make-up date was announced when the postponement decision was made.
Player of the Week
Nobody in the Big South had a jaw-dropping type of week, but UNC Asheville senior forward Bryan McCullough led the Bulldogs in scoring in both of their games, as they went 2-0 for the week and creeped back into the middle of the standings. McCullough dropped 15 points against Radford to start the week and also added 16 points in the Bulldogs’ road win at Charleston Southern.
Team Reports – (Note: Teams are now listed in the order that they appear in the conference standings)
Winthrop Eagles (15-5, 6-1) Last Week: 1-0
Though ice and snow did not allow Winthrop to play at High Point this week, the Eagles did manage to take the court once, and won an ugly battle at home against Charleston Southern, winning 58-45. Winthrop’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Torrell Martin, showed up only 30 minutes before game-time after oversleeping after taking medication for a stomach bug. Martin did not start the game and seemed sluggish at times, though his dunk on an alley-oop play in the second half energized the crowd and helped Winthrop pull away from the Bucs. Martin scored 10 points in the game as sophomore forward Craig Bradshaw led the Eagles with 12 points and junior forward James Shuler just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Winthrop is scheduled to have a light week, with only one game on its slate, a home battle with VMI on January 31. However, there is a chance that the postponed High Point game could be made up later in the week.
High Point Panthers (10-10, 5-2) Last Week: 1-0
High Point looked a bit sluggish early on in their only game that was played this past week, as they pulled away in the second half to beat VMI at home, 88-72. The game was close for most of the first 25 minutes, but a strong shooting performance in the second half led to a convincing margin for the Panthers. Junior guard Mark Wilson led the way with 22 points and senior forward Danny Gathings had a solid night with 16 points and 7 rebounds. As mentioned above, the Panthers’ other scheduled contest, a home battle for first place against Winthrop, was postponed due to icy road conditions.
High Point will take its show on the road for its next three games, with two of those games coming in the upcoming week. The Panthers will first travel to Liberty on February 1, and then they will head to UNC Asheville on February 5. High Point had little trouble with either team when they came to the Millis Center earlier in the season, as the Panthers won both games by double-digits.
Liberty Flames (7-12, 5-3) Last Week: 1-1
Liberty moved their winning streak to five games with a 91-71 stomping of VMI early in the week at home, but could not continue the streak as they traveled to Radford and fell 69-64 over the weekend. In the win over VMI, the Flames had three players score 20 points or more. Sophomore guard David Dees led LU with 23 points, while senior center Leo Lightbourne added 21 points and 9 rebounds and sophomore guard Larry Blair chipped in with 20 points. Blair and Dees also led the Flames in the scoring column against Radford, but the Highlanders did a decent job of keeping the high-scoring duo in check, as Blair had 15 points and Dees had 13 points to go along with 9 rebounds.
The Flames will tip-off this week on February 1 with a huge game at home against High Point, a team that beat them by 17 points in their first meeting this year. Then Liberty will head to Alabama to take on Birmingham-Southern on February 5. The Flames manage to edge the Panthers in their first meeting this year, 74-72.
Charleston Southern Buccaneers (7-11, 4-4) Last Week: 0-2
The magic that accompanied the Bucs as they won their first four league games has gone away as CSU has now lost four in a row and dropped to .500 in the Big South. The Bucs opened the week on the road with a 58-45 loss to Winthrop before coming home and losing a heartbreaker to UNC Asheville, 66-63. Against UNCA, Charleston Southern blew a ten point lead early in the second half and fell behind by as many as fourteen points, before fighting back and making the game close at the end. However, with the Bucs down by three, freshman guard Chris Moore was fouled while attempting a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left and missed all three free throws.
Junior guard Terrell Brown had a breakout week for the Bucs, scoring 16 points against Winthrop and 20 points against UNC Asheville. Brown made 10 three-pointers over the course of the two games and allowed the Bucs to stay close in both contests.
Charleston Southern will remain home all week with a pair of games at the CSU Fieldhouse. The Bucs will first host Coastal Carolina on February 3 before welcoming Radford into their gym on February 5.
UNC Asheville Bulldogs (7-12, 4-4) Last Week: 2-0
After dropping their first three Big South games, the Bulldogs have found their mojo, as they have won their last two games and four of their last five contests to move to .500 in league play. This past week, UNCA held off Radford at home, 75-72, before hitting the road and knocking off Charleston Southern, 66-63. In both games, the Bulldogs got some help by late missed shots by their opponents. Against Radford, RU’s Whit Holcomb-Faye had two attempts to tie it up in the last ten seconds, but could not hit the big shot from behind the arc. CSU had a chance to tie the game at the line with a second remaining in the game, but none of the free throws fell and UNCA came away with the victory.
Along with McCullough’s very solid week (15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game), the Bulldogs also got a pair of good performances from junior forward Chad Mohn. Mohn cracked double-figures in both games this week, scoring 14 points and getting 8 rebounds against Radford, and also scoring 10 points against CSU.
UNCA will finish off their two-game road trip with a January 31 battle at Coastal Carolina. Then the Bulldogs will return home to face High Point on February 5.
Radford Highlanders (9-10, 4-4) Last Week: 1-1
The up-and-down season continued for Radford this past week as the Highlanders continue to hover around .500 for both the overall season and Big South after a 1-1 week. RU opened the week with a tough road loss, falling 75-72 at UNC Asheville before cooling off the red-hot Liberty Flames, 69-64 at the Dedmon Center.
Despite missing a couple of three-pointers in the final seconds that would have sent the game to overtime, junior guard Whit Holcomb-Faye had a very solid game against UNC Asheville, leading the team with 20 points. He also added 12 points in the win over Liberty, but the hero of that game was junior guard Andre Bynum, who scored a career high and team leading 15 points.
Radford will host Birmingham-Southern to start the week with a regionally televised game on January 31. Then the Highlanders will hit the road for their annual ‘beach’ trip, starting on February 5 at Charleston Southern.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-13, 3-4) Last Week: 1-0
The Chanticleers only took the court once this past week, and in an exciting game, Coastal was able to hold on for a 69-68 win at Birmingham-Southern. The Chants held a big lead through most of the game, leading by as much as 18 points late in the first half. However, the Panthers got to within a point late in the second half, but Coastal was able to hold onto the lead and get the win. Junior guard Pele Paelay and freshman guard Jack Leasure each scored 21 points in the victory. Sophomore forward Moses Sonko was the only other Chanticleer in double-figures, scoring 13 points.
The Chants will have a busy week, playing three games in the next six days. They will first host UNC Asheville on January 31 before heading down US-17 to face Charleston Southern on February 3. Then Coastal will head back home and host VMI on February 5 to close out the week.
Birmingham-Southern Panthers (10-9, 3-5) Last Week: 1-1
Birmingham-Southern’s Bill Battle Coliseum used to be known as one of the toughest places for any visiting to win in, but the Panthers fell to 2-3 at home in Big South games as Coastal Carolina squeaked by with a 69-68 win at the Battle to open BSC’s week. Things did get better at the end of the week for the Panthers though, as they did manage to win on the road, beating VMI, 66-59.
The loss to Coastal came despite a big game by senior guard Jakob Sigurdarson. He scored 26 points and added 5 assists in the loss while junior forward Thomas Viglianco scored 19 points and grabbed 8 boards. Viglianco was the leading scorer in BSC’s win over VMI later in the week, as he tallied 13 points for the Panthers. Sigurdarson and senior guard Jimmy Amerson were the only other Birmingham-Southern players in double-figures in the victory.
The Panthers will look to try and move back towards the middle of the standings with a pair of games this week. First, they will finish off their two-game road trip with a January 31 match-up at Radford. Then the Panthers will return home and take on Liberty on February 5.
VMI Keydets (5-12, 0-7) Last Week: 0-3
The top of this Notebook noted VMI’s rocky season, and it was an ugly week for the Keydets as they dropped all three of their games. First they traveled to Liberty, falling 91-71 in a regionally televised contest. Then the Keydets headed to High Point and played the Panthers tough for a while, but ended up falling 88-72. The other Panthers of the league (Birmingham-Southern) came calling in VMI’s final game of the week, but playing on their home court did not seem to help the Keydets, as they fell 66-59.
Freshman forward Reggie Williams and sophomore guard Matt Coward continue to play well despite their team’s woes. Williams topped 20 points twice this week while Coward cracked double-digits in points in all three games and also had 13 assists over the three games.
The Keydets kick off a three game road-trip this week as they will first head to Winthrop on January 31, then battle Coastal Carolina in Conway on February 5. Coming into this week, VMI holds a 2-7 record on the road, with three of those losses coming against Big South teams.
