How the conferences shake out as 2013 approaches

Non-conference play is almost over, and it has been quite a stretch. We’ve learned a good deal about a lot of teams, while some are still a mystery for various reasons – injuries, suspensions, ineligibility and a light schedule are all possible reasons. In addition, a few conferences have already seen a game or two mixed in with the non-conference schedule.

Conference play is right around the corner, and while a non-conference resume doesn’t tell the whole story, it does shed some light on teams and conferences. In conference play, there is more familiarity since teams play each other every year, although the changing landscape is starting to diminish that factor a bit. That’s one reason why we see some teams put forth a very good non-conference showing, including some good wins, then go on to have a mediocre showing in conference play.

With that in mind, here’s a look at how every conference in America shapes up.

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Mike Jones tries to get Radford going early

Radford had a tough weekend in Connecticut, losing both games in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Highlanders have had some bright spots so far, but new head coach Mike Jones knows there’s a lot of work yet to do with this team.

Radford came to Connecticut with a 3-1 mark, with a couple of wins against non-Division I teams. Jones didn’t like the effort they had on Saturday, when they lost to a good Long Island team, but felt they responded better on Sunday, where they led for much of the first half before Marist took the lead. The Highlanders never really got untracked in the second half of that game, and that wasn’t the first time they got into a slump like that.

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Big South Season Recap

We’ll never know how special this season could have been for Coastal Carolina and the Big South.

In mid-February, the Chanticleers were 24-2 overall and 15-0 in the conference, and they were crushing just about everyone. The team had caught the attention of pollsters, who had Coastal Carolina just outside the top 25 in the Associated Press’ and coaches’ polls. Based on votes, Coastal Carolina was the No. 27 or 28 team in the nation, depending on whether you prefer to trust writers or coaches.

And then everything fell apart.

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Big South Notebook

We’re about a month and a half into the season, and the Big South appears to be following many preseason expectations.

Faced with a mix of non-Division I opponents and power conference favorites, Big South teams notched a respectable 42-40 record thus far against non-conference teams. Coastal Carolina will look to carry momentum from a couple of big wins into the Big South schedule. The Chanticleers claim wins against LSU of the SEC and Charlotte of the Atlantic 10.

Every Big South team has played at least one conference match up so far, and High Point and Liberty sit atop the standings at 2-0. High Point figures to remain in competition for the Big South title while Liberty is supposed to fade toward the middle of the pack. But don’t tell that to the Flames, who have tallied wins against Presbyterian and Winthrop. … Continue Reading

2010 Big South Post-Mortem

After winning the conference championship in 2009, Radford appeared stacked entering this season. And for a while, the Highlanders looked like they were on pace to repeat as champions. Player of the Year Artsiom Parakhouski was unstoppable night in and night out, helping Radford finish second to surprisingly dominant Coastal Carolina in the regular season. However, the Highlanders fell victim to Winthrop’s suffocating defense in the Big South Tournament’s semifinals.

Winthrop proved why the Eagles are a perennial conference contender by playing excellent defense throughout the season. The Eagles reaped the dividends of their efforts on defense by storming through the Big South Tournament for another championship. The Eagles captured the conference’s automatic bid, which ended up being an invitation to the play-in game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In that game, Winthrop’s poor shooting spoiled another solid defensive effort, as the Eagles bowed out without playing a game in the field of 64.

But at least Winthrop reached the NCAA Tournament, a place Coastal Carolina had in its sights after winning the regular-season title. However, the Chanticleers couldn’t continue their success in the conference championship game. Coastal Carolina dropped the final bout at home as Winthrop’s defense knocked the Chanticleers out of rhythm throughout the game.

Final Standings

Big South Conference Tournament

For the ninth time in 12 years, Winthrop won the Big South championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles upset No. 2 Radford and No. 1 Coastal Carolina en route to the conference championship. In the championship game, Winthrop won its second game of the season against the Chanticleers, taking out the hosts 64-53.

After Winthrop gave up 72 points to No. 6 Liberty in the quarterfinals, the Eagles turned up the defensive pressure, holding Radford to 46 points and Coastal Carolina to 53. Senior forward and Defensive Player of the Year Mantoris Robinson paced Winthrop to the championship with 14 points against Coastal Carolina, including a solid 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

The most thrilling game of the tournament was Radford’s 64-61 overtime victory against No. 7 Charleston Southern. Charleston Southern rallied from eight points down in the final minutes of regulation but ran out of steam in overtime. The Highlanders built a six-point cushion to start overtime and held on for the win.

Big South Awards

Player of the Year: Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford

Coach of the Year: Cliff Ellis, Coastal Carolina

Freshman of the Year: Jeremy Sexton, Charleston Southern

Defensive Player of the Year: Mantoris Robinson, Winthrop

First-Team All-Conference:

Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford

Joseph Harris, Coastal Carolina

Nick Barbour, High Point

Chad Gray, Coastal Carolina

Jamarco Warren, Charleston Southern

Second-Team All-Conference:

Joey Lynch-Flohr, Radford

Austin Kenon, VMI

Kyle Ohman, Liberty

Mantoris Robinson, Winthrop

John Williams, UNC-Asheville

All-Freshman Team:

Jeremy Sexton, Charleston Southern

Stan Okoye, VMI

Evan Gordon, Liberty

Kierre Greenwood, Coastal Carolina

Blake Smith, Radford

Season Highlights

4 Things We Saw Coming

1. Radford’s Artsiom Parakhouski dominated the conference on his way to Player of the Year honors.

2. Radford’s size propelled the Highlanders near the top of the conference.

3. VMI once again led the nation with the fastest pace. The Keydets also finished dead last in defensive efficiency, contributing to the team’s 19 losses.

4. New High Point coach Scott Cherry has the Panthers playing a faster pace and moving up the standings, finishing in the middle of the Big South pack.

4 Things We Thought We’d See

1. After shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 28.4 percent from three-point range in 2008-09, Winthrop was supposed to be better, not worse, on offense this season. That didn’t happen as the Eagles regressed to 38.0 percent from the field and 24.8 percent from long range.

2. Gardner-Webb was supposed to be better after putting up 13 wins in 2008-09 and returning four starters. But the Bulldogs struggled, winning only eight games. Inconsistent guard play led to more than 18 turnovers per game and derailed the season.

3. With Liberty losing Seth Curry and other key contributors, the Flames were supposed to struggle big time this season. But coach Dale Layer found a way to keep Liberty in the top six.

4. To start the season, UNC-Asheville’s backcourt appeared to be the team’s strength. But the Bulldogs ended up averaging about 17 turnovers per game, worse than last season.

4 Things We Didn’t See Coming

1. With Winthrop’s shooting woes, the Eagles didn’t appear to be able to take out Radford in the conference semifinals. But Winthrop found a way to win and got past regular-season champ Coastal Carolina for the conference championship.

2. Coastal Carolina’s ascension to the top of the Big South standings was surprising, especially considering that the team relied mostly on freshmen and sophomores.

3. Coastal Carolina’s Chad Gray, a transfer from South Carolina, did more than just contribute some productive minutes for the Chanticleers. He led the team to the regular-season title with 14.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. For his efforts, he received first-team all-conference honors.

4. Charleston Southern’s Jeremy Sexton stormed through the Big South in his freshman campaign, earning the Rookie of the Year award. He averaged 12.7 points and 2.3 assists per game and shot better than 38 percent from three-point range.

Teams on the Rise:

Charleston Southern

The Buccaneers finished near the bottom of the pack this season. But they will return nearly their entire lineup, including freshman of the year, Jeremy Sexton. If Charleston Southern can continue to cut down on the turnovers, the Buccaneers could move up as a couple of other teams rebuild.

High Point

Under new coach Scott Cherry, the Panthers played better than expected this past season. If Cherry can keep this team on an upward trajectory, the Panthers should approach the top of the conference next season. The Panthers return six out of their top eight players, including leading scorer Nick Barbour, who averaged 18.9 points per game and will be a candidate for player of the year in 2010-11.

Team on the Decline:

Winthrop

The Eagles won the conference championship with an outburst of just-good-enough shooting and excellent defense. But Winthrop will lose the defensive player of the year, Mantoris Robinson, from a team that relies almost entirely on defense. The Eagles actually shot worse this season than they did last season. There’s no reason to expect this team to turn into excellent shooters all of a sudden, and if the team’s defense falters, the Eagles will plummet in the Big South standings.

Radford

The Highlanders will have to learn to succeed without Artsion Parakhouski, which promises to be a tall order next season. The player of the year averaged 21.4 points and 13.4 rebounds per game for Radford this season. In addition, Radford will lose two others starters who averaged at least 32 minutes per game. Radford’s lineup figures to undergo major changes by opening night next season, and it could be a difficult season.

Next Season

This season and next season promise to look totally different in the Big South.

With the player of the year and defensive player of the year graduating, several top teams figure to move down the standings. Radford is in danger of making the biggest drop after Artsiom Parakhouski graduates. The player of the year was spectacular, but the Highlanders will have to find a way to win without him. Most likely, that’s not going to happen very often.

Winthrop will likely join Radford among the teams falling in the standings, unless the Eagles figure out how to shoot better. Winthrop won the conference championship with a great defense and mediocre offense. With the graduation of Mantoris Robinson, Winthrop loses the defensive player of the year. That has to hurt the team’s defensive prowess, which will likewise hurt the team’s win total.

In their place, several young teams, like Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, Liberty and High Point will be ready to move up the standings. Coastal Carolina already earned a regular-season title, and the Chanticleers figure to remain competitive for the league title. Charleston Southern, High Point and Liberty want to build on some success from this past season by moving into the top half of the conference next season.

Big South Preview

Big South Conference 2007-08 Preview

by Phil Kasiecki

For quite a while now, the Big South has largely been Winthrop’s to lose. They have had challenges, even serious ones like those from Birmingham Southern before they left Division I and Coastal Carolina a couple of years ago, but they’ve prevailed in the end each time. Finally, last March the Eagles broke through in the NCAA Tournament and won a game after several close calls, including in 2005 when they were a controversial No. 15 seed and almost knocked off Tennessee, a controversial No. 2 seed.

Now, those familiar with the Big South will see how much of Winthrop’s success was simply the work of Gregg Marshall and whether or not it can be sustained. After interviewing for several head coaching vacancies, Marshall ultimately left to take the head coaching job at Wichita State. His former assistant of the past four years, Randy Peele, takes over. Peele has been a head coach before, as he led UNC Greensboro from 1995 to 1999. Included was a Southern Conference championship in 1996, his first season. The Eagles have lost star players before, and they lose a couple this time around from last season’s team, but now the coach has changed and that is different from losing players.

If this opens the door for others, who will walk through? The top candidate looks to be High Point, a team with good veterans and the conference’s top returning player, as well as something Winthrop still does have: a solid and underrated floor leader. A team that almost knocked off the Eagles in 2005-06, Coastal Carolina, also has the personnel to do it. That year, the Chanticleers beat the Eagles both times in the regular season, but the Eagles won when it counted in the Big South championship game.

Winthrop wasn’t the only school that changed coaches, as three others will also have new faces patrolling the sidelines this season. Buzz Peterson left Coastal Carolina to take a job with the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA, rejoining longtime good friend Michael Jordan. Cliff Ellis, most recently the head coach at Auburn, replaces him. Radford replaced Byron Samuels with Brad Greenberg, the older brother of Virginia Tech head coach Seth and most recently his top lieutenant.

Preseason Awards
Player of the Year: Arizona Reid, High Point
Top Newcomer: TeeJay Bannister, Liberty
Top Freshman: Tovi Bailey, Charleston Southern
Defensive Player of the Year: Travis Holmes, VMI
Best NBA Prospect: Jack Leasure, Coastal Carolina

All-Big South Team
Chris Gaynor, Sr. G, Winthrop
Michael Jenkins, Sr. G, Winthrop
Jack Leasure, Sr. G, Coastal Carolina
Arizona Reid, Sr. F, High Point
Reggie Williams, Sr. F, VMI

Winthrop Eagles (29-5, 14-0 Big South)
Projected Starters:
Sr. G Chris Gaynor (7.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.5 spg)
Sr. G Michael Jenkins (14.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.3 spg)
Sr. G Antwon Harris (5.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
Sr. F Taj McCullough (7.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.3 spg)
Jr. C Andy Buechert (junior college transfer)
Schedule Highlights: The Eagles open the season in the Paradise Jam, taking on Illinois-Chicago and either Georgia Tech or Charlotte in the second game. Six home games are on tap in the non-conference schedule, including good matchups with Missouri State, MAC contender Akron, Colonial contender Old Dominion and a BracketBusters game. Among the road games are trips to West Virginia, Mississippi, Miami (Orange Bowl Classic) and improved Marshall. In Big South play, they get an immediate test against a contender as they head to High Point for the opener. A few weeks later, they play three straight on the road.
Outlook: There’s a new leader in town, but the key players aren’t new and know how to win. New head coach Randy Peele has won before as a head coach and now takes over after being an assistant for four years, so everything appears to be in place for the Eagles to win again. They won’t be big, as there’s not much size on the roster, but McCullough should anchor the inside along with junior college transfer Andy Buechert. Freshmen Chris Malcolm, Charles Corbin and George Valentine provide depth inside. The perimeter is where this team will win, as Jenkins will be the go-to guy and Gaynor just simply wins at the point. Gaynor will be counted on to score more while being the consummate floor leader that he is, and he led the conference in assist/turnover ratio last season. Sophomore Mantoris Robinson also returns and will play on the wing. The Eagles were the best defensive team in the conference last season, and expect Peele to emphasize more of the same this season as the key to another championship.

High Point Panthers (22-10, 11-3 Big South)
Projected Starters:
Sr. G Mike Jefferson (13.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.3 spg)
So. G Eugene Harris (8.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.0 spg)
Sr. F Jerald Minnis (8.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg)
Sr. F Arizona Reid (21.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.2 spg)
So. C Cruz Daniels (3.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.0 bpg)
Schedule Highlights: The Panthers will have six non-conference home games, including part of in-season home-and-homes with Longwood and Savannah State. They open the season at Charlotte before departing for Washington in the NIT Season Tip-Off, where they play Utah and either the hosts or New Jersey Tech. Other notable road games are at Dayton and Florida. Big South play will give an early measure of this team’s chances to take the title, as they open with Winthrop at home as the first of three home games in a four-game stretch.
Outlook: If personnel losses and the coaching change make Winthrop vulnerable, the Panthers are sure to be right there to take their place atop the conference. Reid gets much of the publicity, but Jefferson is as much a key to this team as anyone as he runs the show and is the prime complementary scorer. Harris could take some of that burden off him after a nice freshman season, while Minnis helps Reid out inside along with Daniels, who looks to have a high ceiling as well. Right now, Daniels is mainly needed to be a defensive presence, and his ability to block shots will do just that. Tim Burns and Melvin Crowder add backcourt depth, while the frontcourt has several holdovers who haven’t played much and would get a good boost if Josh Lamons bounces back from an injury that limited him to four games last season. Only Winthrop was a better defensive team than the Panthers last season, and expect them to hang their hat on that once again this season.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (15-15, 7-7 Big South)
Projected Starters:
So. G Joshua Mack (12.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.5 spg)
Sr. G Jack Leasure (15.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.5 spg)
Sr. G Everage Richardson (7.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.2 spg)
Jr. F Joseph Harris (8.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.3 bpg)
Jr. F Matt Brennan (2.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg)
Schedule Highlights: Six home games plus a neutral site game against Georgia State are on tap in non-conference play. After two home games to open the season, they head on the road to play at Cincinnati, then later play at Southland contender McNeese State and Conference USA contender Houston. They have an in-season home-and-home with UNC Wilmington. After two straight home games to start Big South play, they get tested with three straight road games, starting at High Point and finishing at Winthrop.
Outlook: Buzz Peterson has moved on to an NBA job after bringing the Chanticleers close to the NCAA Tournament a couple of years ago and becoming a consistent contender in the Big South. He didn’t leave the cupboard bare, as a solid perimeter trio returns led by Leasure and Mack. Leasure is set to close out an excellent career, while Mack made an instant impact in his freshman season. Richardson complements both on the wing, and the three played well together last season. There isn’t much size in the frontcourt, but Harris plays bigger inside and Brennan will be asked to do more. Junior college transfer Derek Gillam and freshman Jon Pack, who stand 6’11″ and 6’10″ respectively, were brought in to add size to the front line. Opponents shot over 46 percent from the field against the Chants last season, so an improvement on defense will be a key to success.

UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (12-19, 6-8 Big South)
Projected Starters:
Sr. G K.J. Garland (12.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.5 spg)
Sr. G Bryan Smithson (14.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.9 spg)
Sr. F Vincent James (9.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Sr. F Garrett Moles (3.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
Jr. F Reid Augst (6.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
Schedule Highlights: The Bulldogs will play nine non-conference home games, all of them coming in bunches. They open with three straight at home and have consecutive home games three more times. Most notable on the non-conference slate are trips to Virginia Tech, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. Three of the first four Big South games are at home.
Outlook: The senior-laden Bulldogs qualify as the dark horse in the conference, especially with the solid senior backcourt of Garland and Smithson. Both can score, with Garland’s ability to score keeping defenses honest, and both are good defensively. The frontcourt has steady veterans in James and Moles, while Augst has the inside track for the other starting spot, although they wouldn’t be very big with that threesome. Transfer Matt Kittrell is a skilled forward who should play right away, and they bring back the tallest player in college basketball in 7’7″ junior Kenny George, who blocked more than two shots per game in 23 games and 10 minutes per game. The Bulldogs will need to improve primarily at the offensive end, as they tied for the worst field goal percentage in the conference and tied for next-to-last in turnovers.

VMI Keydets (14-19, 5-9 Big South)
Projected Starters:
Sr. G Adam Lonon (2.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.4 spg)
Jr. G Chavis Holmes (19.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 2.8 spg)
Jr. G Travis Holmes (15.0 pg, 4.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, 3.4 spg)
Sr. F Reggie Williams (28.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.7 spg)
Jr. F Willie Bell (5.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.5 spg)
Schedule Highlights: The Keydets will play seven non-conference home games, including a visit from improved James Madison. They open the season in the Air Force Classic in Colorado Springs, and after that the most difficult game by a good margin is at Ohio State. Three of the first four Big South games are on the road.
Outlook: Dugger Baucom’s team led the nation in scoring thanks to a game plan that emphasized quick possessions, but such a game plan also brings issues like turnovers and defense. The Keydets didn’t do well in the latter area, allowing teams to shoot a whopping 53 percent from the field and allowing more points than any other team by far, and they were out-rebounded by over 10 per game. There is plenty of firepower returning, as Williams declared for the NBA Draft after leading the nation in scoring but returns, and the Holmes twins (one of two pairs of twins in Division I with that last name) also return. Seven-footer Stephen Sargent will add some size inside, but expect this team to try and play at the same speed and try to out-gun teams again this season. With a year together, some improvement would seem likely, and if that happens the Keydets may be able to hit .500 in Big South play.

Liberty Flames (14-17, 8-6 Big South)
Projected Starters:
Sr. G TeeJay Bannister (transfer from Virginia)
Jr. G Anthony Smith (11.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.3 apg)
Sr. F Rell Porter (2.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg)
Sr. F Alex McLean (14.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.0 apg)
So. F-C Tyler Baker (4.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
Schedule Highlights: The Flames host seven home games in non-conference play, highlighted by part of an in-season home-and-home with Longwood and a visit from defending MAAC champion Niagara. They open the season at the World Vision Classic at Fresno State, where they will play San Diego State in addition to the host school and Portland. Later road games include trips to Kentucky, Virginia Tech and George Mason.
Outlook: New head coach Ritchie McKay takes over a team that lost its top two scorers, but the cupboard isn’t entirely bare. Bannister is eligible and will boost the backcourt, and his presence should help Smith now that he’ll be the most proven backcourt player. McLean leads the frontcourt after a quietly solid junior season, while Porter is a capable player who should give them more and Baker has some good upside. Junior Justin Holland gives them some depth at the point, while senior Russell Monroe is the most experienced frontcourt reserve. With over 35 points lost from the departures of Larry Blair and Dwight Brewington, the Flames will be hard-pressed to be second in scoring again, so cutting down on their 15 turnovers per game and riding the frontcourt holdovers to another good rebounding margin will go a long way towards another .500 or better season.

Charleston Southern Buccaneers (8-22, 2-12 Big South)
Projected Starters:
Sr. G Chris Moore (14.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.9 apg in 16 games)
So. G Shelton Carter (6.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.1 apg)
So. F Marquise Duvall (4.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
So. F Brandon Macklin (4.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
Jr. F Giedrus Knysas (8.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
Schedule Highlights: The Buccaneers have eight home games in non-conference play, two of which (Tulane and Auburn) will be played at the North Charleston Coliseum. They play a third game, against cross-town rival College of Charleston, at the North Charleston Coliseum. Also on tap is an in-season home-and-home with Gardner-Webb, with other notable road games being trips to play Florida and Virginia Tech. About halfway through Big South play is a tough five-game stretch that has Winthrop and High Point at home sandwiched around a three-game road swing.
Outlook: Injuries didn’t help the Buccaneers last season, as Moore missed half the season and Knysas missed time at the end of the season due to injuries. Moore will need to stay healthy even more now that Dwayne Jackson and Donnell Covington are gone, and they’ll be counting on Shelton Carter for more in his sophomore year. The guards will be pushed by younger talent, as the Bucs signed good guards in Jamarco Warren, Tovi Bailey and Omar Carter, and all three could get good minutes this season. Knysas keys the frontcourt, with Duvall and Macklin showing some promise last season. The Bucs were last in the conference in scoring last season and lost their top two scorers, so that’s a major area of concern entering this season. In light of that, it will be imperative that they not repeat last season’s defensive effort, when opponents shot 46.5 percent from the field against them.

Radford Highlanders (8-22, 3-11 Big South)
Projected Starters:
So. G Amir Johnson (11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.0 spg)
Jr. G Kenny Thomas (9.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.0 spg)
Jr. G Martell McDuffy (9.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
Sr. F-C Duane Ricks (1.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg)
So. C Joey Lynch-Flohr (2.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg)
Schedule Highlights: A mid-December date with West Virginia is the highlight of six non-conference home games. They have in-season home-and-homes with Presbyterian, Campbell and Gardner-Webb. Notable road games include the season opener at Michigan, Air Force, Georgetown and South Carolina. Three of the first four Big South games are on the road, and the one home game is against Winthrop, so it won’t be easy out of the gate.
Outlook: The Highlanders struggled down the stretch last season and continued to hit a rough patch after some success early in the decade. New head coach Brad Greenberg will try to reverse that trend, and he has a few holdovers to start with. The perimeter trio of Johnson, who looks to be the point guard for the next three seasons, along with Thomas and McDuffy, will be a good start. The latter two should reach double figures this season, and they’ll have to for this team to succeed because there’s not much firepower in the frontcourt. Ricks is one of just three seniors, so Greenberg can build for more than just this season with the core of this team. The Highlanders led the conference in turnovers last season, and with the backcourt needing to carry this team, improving on that will be essential.

Conference Outlook

For the first time in a while, Winthrop enters the season not being a clear favorite to win the conference. But they still have plenty of talent and experience returning, and their holdovers have done a lot of winning, so they’re still the team to beat until someone knocks them off. High Point should be next in line with their solid inside-outside combination of Arizona Reid and point guard Mike Jefferson, and Coastal Carolina figures to be a little further back as Cliff Ellis takes over for Buzz Peterson. UNC-Asheville and VMI are dark horses, the former with a senior backcourt to lead the way.

At the bottom of the conference are a couple of rebuilding teams, although Charleston Southern has young guards with talent that could surprise some people and finish higher. The Bucs have just three seniors and only one among their starters, so they could be a year away.

Birmingham-Southern Leaves Division I

Short Division I Tenure May Be Instructive

by Jerry Hinnen

It’s a debate that may very well have started as soon as intercollegiate athletics were invented. Perhaps right there on the sidelines of Princeton and Rutgers’ historic 1869 football clash, faculty and students alike were already wondering: can an institution of higher learning succeed at the highest levels both academically and athletically?

Put another way, can universities serve two masters – as the saying goes, and as opponents of big-budget athletics might phrase it, both God and mammon? As NCAA Division I athletics have become bigger and bigger business, the answer to that question has, over time, seemingly become a firmer and firmer “No.”

There are always exceptions, of course. But whether it’s a power forward gaining admittance to St. Bonaventure on the strength a welding certificate, the perennial football futility at Rutgers or Temple, or the “Last Amateurs” of the Patriot League finally playing for scholarship money, the majority of evidence has indicated that schools (particularly smaller ones) can either uphold their academic standards or their athletic standards – or join the difficult, never-ending struggle to do both. This June, that struggle claimed its most recent victim, now former Big South Conference member and future Division III participant Birmingham-Southern College.

Birmingham-Southern, or BSC as the school is often referred to, has had a long and distinguished athletic tradition. Its football teams routinely lined up against Auburn and Alabama before World War II. Its proud men’s basketball program peaked during the 1990s as under head coach Duane Reboul the Panthers took both the ’90 and ’95 NAIA national titles. By the mid-’90s Brian Shoop and Preston Goldfarb had turned BSC’s baseball and men’s soccer teams, respectively, into national championship contenders as well.

Academically, under the leadership of longtime president Dr. Neal Berte BSC emerged from a period of uncertainty to become one of the Southeast’s leading liberal arts colleges. A substantially increased endowment helped the small campus on Birmingham’s west side see a construction boom in the mid-to-late ’90s, with dedications for a number of state-of-the-art buildings and plans finalized for a new multi-million dollar science building.

Amidst these kinds of successes, it’s not surprising that Berte’s 1999 announcement that the Board of Trustees had approved a plan to move BSC from NAIA to NCAA Division I was met with ample – if not unbridled – optimism. The school would have to dramatically increase its athletic budget, remodel and expand nearly all its facilities, find a conference, and spend the requisite several years wandering the post-seasonless wilderness of ‘provisional’ NCAA membership. Some wondered if the intangible rewards of competing in Division I – a raised national, regional, and city-wide profile, fielding the best athletics team possible for a school of BSC’s size – were worth the very tangible millions of dollars it would take to make the leap.

But with images of the Panthers taking the court or field in various NCAA Tournaments creating excitement throughout the BSC community, the leap was made. And on the surface, things went perfectly according to plan. New athletic director (and Jefferson-Pilot SEC hoops color analyst) Joe Dean Jr. helped BSC quickly find membership in the Big South Conference. Expansion projects involving the soccer, baseball, and basketball facilities were each completed on time. The baseball team provided the perfect sending-off by winning the NAIA national title in their final year of eligibility.

And once BSC started Division I play, the Panthers’ on-court successes were beyond what almost anyone expected. The brand-new women’s basketball team was immediately competitive, as were other several other new sports. The baseball and men’s soccer teams immediately put their stamp on both the Big South and national scene, with baseball qualifying for the school’s first NCAA Tournament in 2004. Women’s soccer followed suit the following season. The previous winter, in only their first year of full NCAA membership, the men’s hoops team had shared the Big South regular season crown and earned ESPN.com’s endorsement for the league’s first NIT bid. For the next two years, despite being Division I’s fourth-smallest institution, BSC appeared to be the model for a successful transition: successful programs across the board, growing fan interest, popular coaches, national press.

Then, last May, the Division I program BSC had put so much effort and money into building came suddenly crashing down.

Dr. David Pollick, sworn in as BSC’s new president in summer 2004, started taking a closer look at BSC’s debt-fueled and increasingly threatening cash crunch in the early stages of this year. He claims that he found a much darker side to BSC’s apparently seamless move to D-I: that the school’s athletics department was reportedly running a staggering $5-5.7 million yearly deficit, nearly equal to the department’s $6.5 million entire annual budget.

According to Pollick, expenditures for building and maintaining the D-I program had run far beyond the school’s initial estimates. He recommended to the Board of Trustees that the school shelve its budding top-level programs and move to non-scholarship NCAA Division III.

When the news broke that the Board of Trustees was poised to dismantle the Division I program, only a few short days before the deciding vote reaction was fierce on either side of the debate. Students and athletes protested in favor of saving the program, various Panthers telling news cameras they would likely not have attended BSC without their athletic scholarships. The BSC faculty voted in favor of the move, pointing out that the school could hardly claim to cherish academics while spending more on athletic scholarships than academic. Dean and the shocked athletics department prepared a presentation for the Board and vocally opposed the move. Pollick pointed out that BSC’s academic peers were not the large universities that made up the Big South but the liberal arts colleges like Rhodes, Centre, and Sewanee, that made up its likely new home in Division III, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Opponents responded that quality, i.e. scholarship athletics had always had a special place at BSC that they did not at long-time DIII schools.

In the end, the Board sided with Pollick. Current and ex-athletes ripped the President in the pages of the Birmingham News. “This is a very poor decision motivated by one man’s – David Pollick’s – selfish agenda,” said one former baseball player. Dean expressed his disappointment but promised to soldier on. The parent of one recruit blasted Pollick for keeping the financial deliberations secret while his daughter made her plans to enroll at what she believed would be a Division I school. Angry letters to the editor appeared in the News almost immediately.

The BSC athletics department predictably splintered within days. Shoop moved across town to coach the UAB Blazers, taking a number of his BSC players with him. (The blog of one former BSC baseball player changed its background colors from BSC’s black-and-gold to UAB’s green.) Players from virtually every team on campus transferred out in droves. Dean was forced to announce that due to the transfers, neither the baseball nor men’s basketball teams would compete in 2006-2007. And on July 13, Reboul stepped down after 17 years on the BSC sidelines, admitting that the “changes” in the program’s direction had led to his decision.

So what does Birmingham-Southern have to show for their six years of effort and dedication to the ideal of competing at the highest athletic level? Mounting bills for state-of-the-art facilities that will be out-of-place and unnecessarily large in Division III. A divided and in many cases disgruntled alumni base. The loss of several talented coaches. A president that many in the BSC community no longer trust. And for fans of Reboul and his basketball team, the bitter taste of knowing how attainable the now-abandoned goal of an NCAA Tournament berth had already become.

A quick scan of U.S. News and World Report‘s rankings of top liberal arts colleges show that not many of these top academic schools take their athletics Division I seriously. Following BSC’s decision, only 9 of the top 100 compete at the D-I level. But that number is about to return to 10: in a move unrelated to BSC’s departure, Presbyterian College of South Carolina is readying for a move into the Big South.

Presbyterian’s decision is, certainly, based on a desire to pursue excellence athletically as well as academically. Balancing those two pursuits as an institution will be, as always, a noble goal. But if PC is doing any double-checking as to how realistic that goal is, contacting schools like St. Bonaventure and Tulane and Vanderbilt, they should make sure to look up the connection to a certain school in Birmingham as well.

Big South Semifinal Recap

Big South Conference Tournament Semifinal Recap

by Jerry Hinnen

After chaos reigning in the Big South tournament brackets the past several seasons, the 2006 conference championship will be decided by the top two seeds: one the league’s most on-paper talented team and regular season champion, the other its personal nemesis and the conference’s hottest squad. The championship game, airing on ESPN2 at noon Eastern Saturday, should be the proverbial “doozy,” and will be an excellent chance for the up-and-coming league to show why it has risen all to No. 19 in this season’s conference RPI ratings, far surpassing rival leagues the SoCon (No. 23) and Atlantic Sun (No. 28).

No. 1 Winthrop 77, No. 5 High Point 65

The defending Big South champions and 2006 regular season titlists will play for an NCAA berth on their own floor Saturday after a late run turned away a valiant effort from fifth-seeded High Point, 77-65.

After a three-point play by Mike Jefferson brought the visiting Panthers within two at 57-55 with 4:58 to play, Winthrop’s All-Big South guard Torrell Martin connected for back-to-back treys that pushed the lead back to eight less than 60 seconds later. High Point would come no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Martin scored 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. He got a big hand from point guard Chris Gaynor, who took only one shot in last Saturday’s regular season-title clinching win over Birmingham-Southern, but Thursday connected on 5-of-7 three-pointers to tie his career-high with 17 points. (Gaynor also dished out a team-high five assists while turning the ball over twice.) Senior forwards James Shuler and Craig Bradshaw each finished in double figures with 11 and 16 points, respectively, and sophomore forward Taj McCullough continued his strong play off the bench with 9 points.

Despite the loss, there was plenty for High Point fans to be encouraged about the team’s prospects for the 2006-07 season. The Panthers – whose roster is Division I’s second-youngest, featuring only two seniors and one junior – were led by sophomore guard Mike Jefferson’s 25-point explosion on 46 percent (6-of-13) three-point shooting. Jefferson also collected five assists (though with five turnovers) and All-Big South forward Arizona Reid, a sophomore, finished with 17 points.

The Winthrop big men did an excellent job, however, keeping the aggressive Reid off the boards. “A.Z” finished with only three rebounds in 39 minutes, well off his season average of 8.9 a game and nine fewer than he grabbed in the Panthers’ quarterfinal win over Radford. Bradshaw, Shuler, and Martin each shared game-high honors with eight boards apiece as the Eagles owned a 45-30 edge on the glass.

The only ill omen for Winthrop heading into Saturday’s title tilt? The Eagles committed an ugly 21 turnovers in the semifinal, eight of them by Bradshaw alone.

No. 2 Coastal Carolina 73, No.6 Charleston Southern 67

A late Charleston Southern surge fell short as the second-seeded Chanticleers advanced to face Winthrop and potentially complete a devastating season sweep of the conference favorites.

Over the past two seasons, Winthrop has posted an overwhelming 27-1 record against Big South opponents – all opponents, that is, except Coastal, who handed the Eagles their only 2005 Big South loss and took both meetings this season, including a 64-57 win in Rock Hill Jan. 24 that remains Winthrop’s only home Big South loss either year.

At halftime of their semifinal against CSU, the Chants looked like they would cruise into their showdown with the Eagles. They led 40-22 with conference Player of the Year Jack Leasure having scored 13 points and freshman dynamo Joseph Harris having already grabbed 10 rebounds.

But Charleston Southern fought back, eventually coming within three, 67-64, on a Trent Drafts three-pointer with 44 seconds to play. But Coastal senior guard Pele Paelay responded with a three of his own to push the lead back to six, before CSU’s Chris Moore hit yet another trey to make it a one-possession game again with 16 seconds remaining. With no choice but to foul, CSU sent Paelay to the line where he sank both shots to ice the win.

CCU junior forward Moses Sonko continued his red-hot play down the stretch by pouring in a game-high 21 points to go with 8 rebounds. Leasure scored an even 20, but by his standards had an off-night shooting the ball, going only 3-of-12 from deep. Paelay added 17 while Harris finished with a huge 16 rebounds, powering the Chants to a 40-27 edge on the glass.

A game after shooting an eye-popping 9-of-11 from outside in the first half against Birmingham-Southern, the Buccaneers went 0-9 in the first half against Coastal and finished only 7-of-26. Moore and Drafts (the latter in his final game as a Buc) shared team-high honors with 16 points each.

As a team that relies on accurate three-point shooting to open things up for its energetic but undersized forwards – only Birmingham-Southern shot for a higher percentage in Big South play from behind the arc – CCU will need to do better than the 5-of-20 from outside it posted against CSU. Winthrop won’t make it easy for them. The Eagles were the conference’s best team at defending the three.

Big South Quarterfinal Recap

Big South Conference Quarterfinal Recaps

by Jerry Hinnen

No. 6 Charleston Southern 96, No. 3 Birmingham-Southern 76

The curse of the Big South’s third seed continued Tuesday as Charleston Southern upset Birmingham-Southern in Birmingham 96-76 in the Big South quarterfinals. BSC won both regular-season meetings handily, but behind 45 points from guards Chris Moore and Donnell Covington the Buccaneers became the fourth consecutive Big South sixth-seed (and sixth in seventh years) to advance to the semifinals.

For several weeks, Birmingham-Southern’s Achilles heel had been three-point defense, as the Panthers finished last in the conference in opponent’s three-point percentage. Although the Buccaneers hit only 4-of-20 threes in a 62-46 loss to BSC Feb. 20, they took full advantage Tuesday, hitting an unconscious 9-of-11 from deep in the first half on their way to a commanding 48-33 halftime lead.

BSC drew within 13 points twice in the early going in the second half, but Charleston Southern outscored the Panthers 27-15 over a 10-minute period to take an 80-55 lead and put the game well beyond doubt.

Covington hit 8-of-10 from the floor to finish with a game-high 24 points. Moore knocked down 4-of-7 threes to score 21, while Terrell Brown (with 11) and Dwayne Jackson (with 10) also finished in double figures. For the game, Charleston shot 62 percent from the floor and an even 60 percent (12-of-20) from deep.

After starting the season 15-0 at home, BSC lost their final two home games of the season: a battle with Winthrop for the regular season crown Saturday and Tuesday’s crushing defeat, which denied the 19-9 Panthers a shot at a 20-win season. The loss was the worst for BSC in 25 years of games at the Bill Battle Coliseum. Sredrick Powe concluded his BSC career with a team-high 14 points.

Charleston advances to face in-state rival Coastal Carolina in Thursday’s semifinals at regular-season champ Winthrop.

No. 1 Winthrop 93, No. 8 Liberty 52

Winthrop avenged a shocking upset at Liberty in the season’s final week by blasting the Flames at home Tuesday 93-52. Nine different Eagles scored at least four points as the home team opened up a 17-2 lead in the early going and cruised from there.

Liberty’s All-Big South guard Larry Blair led the Flames with 25 points, but shot only 8-of-23 from the field after his 37-point explosion in the teams’ previous meeting, could be said to have been relatively contained. Damien Hubbard finished with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double, but no other Flame scored more than seven. For the game, the Eagles held the Flames to only 38 percent shooting.

By contrast, Winthrop shot 56 percent and out-rebounded the Flames 36-24. Point guard Chris Gaynor finished with 13 points (on 5-of-5 shooting) to go with 5 assists, a steal, and no turnovers. Five other Eagles finished in double figures, including a career-high 15 for sophomore forward Taj McCullough.

As the Big South’s regular-season champion, Winthrop will host both conference semifinals. They will take on fifth-seed High Point, which Winthrop swept in the regular season.

No. 5 High Point 87, No. 4 Radford 84

High Point senior Issa Konare was named the Big South’s Defensive Player of the Year this week, but it was his offense that saved the Panthers in their 87-84 road upset of Radford Tuesday.

An Andre Bynum three-pointer for the Highlanders with 55 seconds left capped a furious Radford rally that saw them come from 11 back with 5:15 to play to tie the game at 81. But Konare stepped up to hit his second three of the game just 12 seconds later. Bynum missed a three on the Highlanders’ next possession and High Point held on for the victory.

While Konare finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, it was All-Big South forward Arizona Reid who was the Panthers’ MVP. The sophomore finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead HPU in both categories. The Panthers out-rebounded the Highlanders and conference rebounding leader Chris Oliver 45-30, despite Oliver’s game-high 15 boards.

The game marked the end of the careers of Radford seniors Oliver and Whit Holcomb-Faye. Holcomb-Faye, the conference’s third all-time leading scorer, finished with 33 points on 12-of-26 shooting, but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers took the rubber match in the season series.

No. 2 Coastal Carolina 78, No. 7 UNC-Asheville 62

The second-seeded Chanticleers pulled away from the visiting Bulldogs in the last 10 minutes to advance to the Big South semifinals with a 16-point victory. Asheville led 42-40 at halftime and 51-49 on an Oliver Holmes free throw with 11:30 remaining, but the red-hot Chants outscored UNCA 29-11 down the stretch to claim their 13th win in their last 14 games.

CCU’s sophomore sharpshooter Jack Leasure was named the Big South Player of the Year this week and showed why Tuesday, shooting 3-of-7 from deep to tie teammate forward Moses Sonko and UNCA big man Joe Barber for game-high honors with 17 points. Three other Chants joined Sonko and Leasure in double figures, including 2005 Big South Player of the Year Pele Paelay, who notched a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double. Coastal also dominated at the free throw line, hitting 23-of-26 to UNCA’s 16-of-27.

The loss ended an injury-ridden and disappointing season for UNCA, which was picked to finish third in the Big South in the pre-season. Barber’s 17 and 7 boards led the Bulldogs.

Big South Notebook

Big South Conference Notebook

by Jerry Hinnen

Down to the Wire

Every year, something NFL fans look forward to is the late-season appearance of charts and lists detailing exactly what scenarios need to play out for their team to make the playoffs. Those fans now have something in common with the scenario-studying supporters of Winthrop, Birmingham-Southern, and Coastal Carolina, each of whom enters the final days of conference play with a shot at Big South title and the league’s all-important top seed for the conference tournament. (The Big South plays at the higher seed’s home court, the semifinals at the regular season champion, and title game at the top remaining seed.)

For more than a month, the Big South has looked like a two-horse race going down to this Saturday’s photo finish between Birmingham-Southern and Winthrop in Birmingham. But after smoking-hot Coastal Carolina upended BSC at home 69-59 last Saturday and cellar-dwelling Liberty shocked Winthrop 78-71 in Lynchburg Monday night, 10-4 Coastal now has their own slim shot at grabbing the Big South’s top slot. In the end, BSC’s and Winthrop’s losses could mean nothing at all, or they could cost them a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s what each team needs to happen to claim the Big South title and – to borrow a phrase from the NFL – finish with home court advantage throughout the Big South tourney.

Birmingham-Southern
Record: 12-3. Schedule: vs. Winthrop, Feb. 25

The Panthers have the simplest – and, many would say, easiest – path to the Big South championship. With Monday’s 62-46 road thrashing of Charleston Southern behind them, if BSC can hold serve against Winthrop in Bill Battle Coliseum Saturday they will claim the league title outright with a 13-3 record.

There’s plenty of reason to expect them to do so. BSC currently holds the nation’s sixth-longest home winning streak at 15 games, one boosted by a perfect 7-0 record at home in Big South play this season. Birmingham is the league’s longest road trip and Winthrop’s game Thursday night against High Point will do the Eagles no favors as they try to prepare. To boot, some Panthers – most notably 6-9 forward Thomas Viglianco, who totaled three field goals in BSC’s last four losses combined, all on the road – appear much more comfortable in the friendly confines of Bill Battle.

But lest Panther fans get too confident, there remains the matter of Winthrop’s 84-43 bludgeoning of BSC at home Jan. 5, the program’s worst loss since the 2000 season. It also remains to be seen how well the Panthers will deal with a tight endgame situation: remarkably, only one of BSC’s 15 Big South contests have been decided by fewer than 10 points.

Not that BSC will complain, but everything will ride on the game with Winthrop. Because the Panthers would lose tiebreakers with both the Eagles (who would have swept them head-to-head) and Coastal (who wins the tie by virtue of their sweep over Winthrop) there is no scenario in which BSC loses Saturday and still wins the top seed.

Winthrop
Record: 11-3. Schedule: vs. High Point, Feb. 23; at Birmingham-Southern, Feb. 25

Like the Panthers, the Eagles still control their own destiny, even after the letdown at Liberty. Defeat High Point at home and BSC on the road, and Winthrop will own another championship banner and be only three home games away from earning their second straight trip to the NCAAs. Do that, and very few fans will remember the Eagles lost three games in a conference many expected them to romp through undefeated.

It won’t be easy. High Point gave the Eagles fits in a 70-67 loss at High Point and after a brief slump, the Panthers look to be in confident form again after a spirited BracketBusters performance on the road at Loyola (Md.) and an 88-67 home whipping of UNC-Asheville Monday. And as noted above, the Eagles won’t just be playing Birmingham-Southern Saturday: they’ll be facing the Big South’s best home team, on that team’s Homecoming, in arguably that program’s biggest game in its history, all on one day of rest. Those aren’t exactly the circumstances Gregg Marshall would choose to play a winner-take-all championship game under. Losses in both games would very likely result in Winthrop’s sliding all the way to the third seed; Coastal would have to lose both their remaining games, at Liberty and at Radford, to keep the Eagles in second.

There is good news for Winthrop. For starters, they could get a mulligan on a loss to High Point. If Coastal drops either of their final two games (on the road to both Liberty and Radford) a win at BSC gives them the top seed anyway as both teams would be 12-4.

Second, the Liberty loss may have been a legitimate fluke. Winthrop had been playing well of late (their previous three games had been shellackings of Radford and UNC-Asheville and their epic 98-97 double-overtime win over Northern Illinois) and caught both Liberty and the Flames’ inspirational Larry Blair playing their best game of the season. It seems unlikely that players like point guard Chris Gaynor – who leads the Big South in assist-to-turnover ratio but had only one dish Monday – or forward James Shuler – who took only five shots against the Flames and hit just one – won’t improve in the week’s later two games.

But if they and the Eagles don’t, what has been a successful but ultimately disappointing season may end with even further disappointment.

Coastal Carolina
Record: 10-4. Schedule: at Liberty Feb. 23, at Radford Feb. 25.

Thursday night, you could find High Point fans decked out in purple face paint, purple wigs, and purple HPU t-shirts, and even they wouldn’t be rooting as hard for the Panthers as the fans down the road at Coastal. There is only one scenario in which Coastal wins the top seed and brings the Big South semifinals to Kimbel Arena: CCU wins over Liberty and Radford combined with a Winthrop loss to High Point and a Birmingham-Southern loss to Winthrop. Any other combination of results sees CCU nabbing the second seed at best.

While the Chanticleer fans might be forgiven for scoreboard watching Thursday and Saturday, the Coastal players themselves would be well-advised to focus on the opponents in front of them. Liberty and their supporters will be brimming with confidence for Thursday’s home game, while Radford dealt Coastal their only loss in their last eleven games, a 70-69 overtime win in Conway Jan. 21. A loss in either game would remove CCU from title consideration.

It would not necessarily, however, remove them the battle for second. If Winthrop loses both of their contests, CCU’s sweep of the Eagles means just one win would be enough for the second seed.

However, thanks to their season sweep of Winthrop, a pair of CCU wins guarantees them no worse than the second seed. Coastal would finish 12-4, would earn a tie with whichever team loses in Birmingham, and would win the tiebreak with either as well: with Winthrop thanks to head-to-head, and with BSC by virtue of a better record against the conference’s highest seed (i.e., Winthrop).

On the flip side, a pair of Coastal losses (assuming Radford defeats last-place VMI Thursday) would drop the Chants all the way to fourth place behind the Highlanders, who would tie the Chants at 10-6 and take the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head sweep.

Got all that?

Moving up in BracketBusters

If the Big South’s continued participation in the BracketBusters event goes as well as it did in this, its first year, it will be something the conference’s fans will look forward to on an annual basis.

The three Big South teams involved – Winthrop, High Point, and UNC-Asheville – all put together solid performances that showed why the conference, now all the way up to No. 19 in stats guru Ken Pomeroy’s conference RPI (ahead of such notable conferences as the Ohio Valley, Patriot League, and most significantly the SoCon), is on the rise.

The biggest win belonged to Winthrop, 98-97 home victors over MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois in double overtime. James Shuler poured in a career-high 27 points, including the free throws that sent the game into overtime, the three-pointer that sent the game into a second overtime, and the three-pointer that won it with 3.1 seconds remaining.

“That’s the best ball game in my tenure,” Gregg Marshall told the Rock Hill Herald. “It would have been a hard one to lose, was a great one to win.”

The Big South’s other BracketBuster teams did the conference proud as well. Although a late 16-2 Greyhound run cost High Point a road win over Loyola (Md.), behind freshman Justin Dunn’s 21 points the Panthers recovered from a recent cold streak to control the game for most of the 40 minutes. UNC-Asheville’s hometown newspaper predicted a 12-point loss in their match-up with the OVC’s Eastern Kentucky Colonels, but Joe Barber’s 21 points helped the Bulldogs to a big second-half lead and an eventual 83-77 win.

As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Loyola and Eastern Kentucky will return the home game favor to HPU and UNCA as part of either the 2006 or 2007 non-conference season.

Around the league

• The aftershocks of Liberty’s win over Winthrop weren’t just felt at the top of the Big South standings. The victory bumped the 3-11 Flames out of a tie for the conference cellar with VMI and into the eighth and final spot in the Big South tourney. Making matters worse for the Keydets, their best shot for a late-season victory slipped away Saturday when they lost 59-48 on the road to Charleston Southern in an offensive performance coach Duggar Baucom told the Chalreston Post and Courier was “pitiful.” VMI closes at home against Radford Thursday.
• The Big South’s schedule-makers could hardly have done a better job in putting together this season’s final Saturday slate. Besides the likely Game of the Year between BSC and Winthrop, Radford will host CCU in a game that could decide the third seed, and even Charleston Southern and UNC-Asheville, currently tied for sixth at 6-9, will go head-to-head to decide which team gets a one-place bump in the standings.
• It’s a great time to be a scorer in the Big South. BSC’s James Collins (with a career-high 27) and Coastal’s Jack Leasure (22) combined for 49 points in their meeting last Saturday; Winthrop’s Torrell Martin (a career-high 32) and Liberty’s Larry Blair (37) combined for 69 points in their clash Monday; and Radford’s Whit Holcomb-Faye scored 37 and 36 points, respectively, in wins over Charleston Southern and Liberty.

Game of the Week: Winthrop at Birmingham-Southern, Saturday, 7 p.m.

Well, duh. The biggest Big South regular-season game in recent memory will feature any number of intriguing match-ups, but perhaps the most significant will pair shooting guards James Collins and Torrell Martin. Both are the most explosive players for their respective teams, and if they find a hot streak from outside, could swing the balance of the game single-handedly. Statistically, the Eagles’ Martin will face a much looser three-point defense than will Collins; BSC ranks dead-last in the conference in opponent’s three-point shooting percentage. But Winthrop will also have to pay much more attention to BSC’s post players than vice versa. Center Sredrick Powe still leads the nation in field goal percentage and dangerous power forward Dwayne Paul averages 11.3 points a game, while Winthrop center Phillip Williams is coming off of a 0-6 game against Liberty and power forward Craig Bradshaw spends much of his time on the perimeter. If the Eagle defense collapses too far inside, Collins may find room enough to warm up and shoot the Panthers to their first outright Big South title.