Big South Conference Championship Game Recap
(1) Winthrop 68, (7) Charleston Southern 46
All season long, Winthrop’s defense has carried the load, and though Charleston Southern did manage to connect on over 48 percent of their shots, the Eagles’ defense gave the Bucs fits, causing 18 turnovers and lifting Winthrop to a 68-46 win in the Big South Championship game. Winthrop’s offense had its moments as well, especially behind the three-point arc, as the Eagles made eleven of their 22 attempts from downtown. The victory gives Winthrop an eighteen game winning streak on their way to their fifth NCAA tournament appearance in the last seven seasons.
Winthrop got strong performances out of versatile sophomore forwards Craig Bradshaw and Phillip Williams, along with the normal contributions from their all-conference players, sophomore guard Torrell Martin and junior forward James Shuler. Bradshaw scored eight early points for the Eagles and finished with a team-high sixteen points behind three three-pointers. Williams also drained three trifectas, all seemingly coming at big moments for the Eagles, on his way to an eleven point performance. Shuler scored fourteen points for Winthrop and Martin almost had a double-double, scoring thirteen and grabbing nine rebounds, on his way to earning the tournament MVP award.
The game was close throughout the first half, with Winthrop taking an eight-point lead at one point, but the Bucs were able to tie it up at 22-22 with four minutes left before a 9-3 Winthrop run gave the Eagles a 31-25 halftime lead. The Eagles led throughout the second half, building the lead to twelve points early in the half before CSU made its final run, cutting the Winthrop lead to 44-39 with 10:30 remaining. From that point on, the Eagles controlled the game, outscoring the Bucs 24-7 the rest of the way and icing the game by scoring the last ten points of the contest.
Charleston Southern was led by senior forward Kurtis Rice, who made all three of his three-point attempts and scored a team-high seventeen points. Junior guard Terrell Brown also played well, draining four three-pointers and scoring fourteen points. The Bucs appeared to capable of an upset in the first half, but not surprisingly ran out of gas in the second half. Charleston Southern had been on the road since Monday, winning a pair of road games at Liberty and High Point to get to the championship game as the seventh seed. The Bucs finish the season at 13-17.
Winthrop will take a 27-5 mark and its eighteen game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, with the type of defense and unselfish play that could give them a chance to spring an upset. As it stands right now, the Eagles appear to be a likely candidate for a 14-seed, though if they catch some breaks in other conference tournaments, a 13-seed is not out of the question. And do not be surprised to see the Eagles in a similar position next year. This year’s team only has one senior, and he only averaged nine minutes and two points per game.
