Big South Conference Notebook
Charleston Southern?
Of all of the teams that one would have been picked to start the conference season 4-0, Charleston Southern would have probably been amongst the last taken. Not only did they finish in last place last year, but they lost at home to a Division II opponent earlier this year and faced the daunting task of three straight road contests before hosting the red-hot High Point Panthers at home to open their conference slate. However, despite the long odds, the Buccaneers find themselves all alone in first place in the Big South after winning those three road games and beating High Point in the BucDome.
Head coach Jim Platt has his team playing tough defense and crashing the boards well, giving them a good opportunity to win games. The Bucs have also been opportunistic, winning two of their first four conference games on last second shots. Last season, CSU found themselves on the wrong end of a few games decided in the final minute, but their luck appears to have turned around.
So is Charleston Southern for real? It might be too early to tell, but at this point, nobody has played as strong as the Bucs have in Big South play.
Player of the Week
Finding a Liberty player as the ‘Player of the Week’ is far from a stretch, as Larry Blair and David Dees are often putting up plenty of points and always putting themselves into consideration week after week. However, this week’s Big South Player of the Week is their frontcourt teammate, senior forward Leo Lightbourne, who made a huge impact for the Flames as they won both of their games this past week. Lightbourne averaged 22.5 points and 7 rebounds this week as Liberty beat Birmingham-Southern and Coastal Carolina.
Team Reports
Charleston Southern Buccaneers (7-7, 4-0) Last Week: 2-0
As mentioned at the top of this column, Charleston Southern finds itself alone at the top of the standings after another solid week. The Bucs opened their week with a 67-60 victory at Radford, marking their third consecutive road victory to open their Big South schedule. The Bucs closed the week with a dramatic come-from-behind victory at home over High Point, winning 76-74 as junior forward Mario Williams drilled a base-line jumper with four seconds remaining to win the game. In the game, CSU trailed by eleven points at halftime and by eight points with under five minutes remaining.
Senior forward Kurtis Rice continued his stellar play, leading the team with 23 points and 9 rebounds in the win over High Point. Senior center Nathan Ball also had a good week, leading the team with 13 points against Radford, and adding 15 points and 8 rebounds against High Point.
The Buccaneers will have a pair of difficult games this week in their quest to remain unbeaten in conference play. They open the week at home against Liberty on January 17 against a Flames team that has won two straight. The Bucs close the week at Birmingham-Southern on January 22. BSC’s Bill Battle Coliseum is one of the most difficult places to win in the league, and despite their slow start, Birmingham-Southern was picked to win the league by the coaches and SIDs in the preseason.
Winthrop Eagles (12-5, 3-1) Last Week: 2-0
The Eagles’ winning streak has reached three games after a week in which they were able to win on the road and at home. Winthrop started the week at UNC Asheville, winning 78-70. The Eagles led comfortably for most of the game and held off a late charge by the Bulldogs. Following that win, Winthrop came home and had little trouble in beating Radford, 74-54.
Against UNC Asheville, junior forward Otis Daniels was the star, scoring a team-high 18 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Sophomore guard Torrell Martin was the hero in Winthrop’s other game, scoring 22 points behind a perfect 8-for-8 performance from the field (including 5-of-5 behind the three-point arc). Not to be lost by those impressive scoring performances is the playmaking ability of freshman guard Chris Gaynor. In the two games, Gaynor managed to dish out 15 assists and grab 7 steals.
Over the next week, Winthrop will travel to Birmingham-Southern on January 19 before heading home to battle Coastal Carolina on January 22. The match-up against Coastal will mark a chance at revenge for the Eagles, as their only loss so far in the Big South was against the Chanticleers.
High Point Panthers (8-9, 3-1) Last Week: 1-1
Road woes struck the Panthers as their red-hot start got derailed at Charleston Southern with a 76-74 loss. Prior to that game, High Point cruised to their third straight victory to open the conference season, winning at home over UNC Asheville, 92-73. The loss to the Bucs dropped High Point’s road record to 1-6, though the Panthers have won seven of their eight home contests this season, including all three of their home conference games. Not helping matters in the loss to Charleston Southern was the absence of senior center Jerry Echenique, who missed the game with back spasms. Echenique has averaged 10 points and almost 6 rebounds per contest this season.
Senior forward Danny Gathings continued his solid season, getting a double-double against UNC Asheville and leading the Panthers with 15 points against Charleston Southern. Senior guard Zione White led the charge against UNC Asheville with 20 points in the win.
The Panthers will have to solve their problems away from home if they wish to win this week, as they will play a pair of road games. They will open the week at Coastal Carolina on January 17 before heading to Radford to battle the Highlanders on January 22.
Liberty Flames (4-11, 2-2) Last Week: 2-0
After nearly being left for dead over the last few weeks, the Flames looked more like defending champions this past week by winning a pair of games. Liberty started the week strong by getting out to an early lead and holding off a furious second half charge in beating Birmingham-Southern at home, 74-72. The solid play continued later in the week, this time on the road as the Flames went to Coastal Carolina and beat the Chanticleers, 71-64, behind a 27 point outburst by senior forward Leo Lightbourne.
Along with Lightbourne’s amazing week was the ever-steady play from the conference’s leading scorer, Larry Blair. The sophomore guard scored 18 points in the victory over Birmingham-Southern, and then chipped in 15 points against Coastal Carolina to put his season average at 17.6 points per game.
Liberty will have a chance to make some noise in the conference, as they have a chance to knock-off the first-place Bucs when they travel to Charleston Southern on January 17. The Flames will then conclude their week’s slate back home against UNC Asheville on January 22.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (5-11, 2-2) Last Week: 1-1
Junior guard Pele Paelay lit up the scoreboard this week, putting up a career-high 38 points as the Chants beat VMI on the road to open the week, 79-68. The 38 points mark the largest point total put up by a Big South player this season. Paelay got some help in the game as freshman guard Jack Leasure tallied 15 points of his own, along with notching 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
Paelay only managed to score 14 points in Coastal’s only other game of the week, and the Chants were unable to muster up enough offense to beat Liberty, losing at home, 71-64. Leasure also scored 14 points in the contest, but the Chants could not stop Liberty’s Leo Lightbourne, as he scored 27 points to lead all scorers.
The Chants will face two of the top teams in the league this upcoming week, as High Point heads to Kimble Arena on January 17 and then Coastal will travel to Winthrop on January 22. Coastal has already faced Winthrop once this season, beating the Eagles in Conway 76-68 in the conference opener for both teams.
Birmingham-Southern Panthers (8-6, 1-2) Last Week: 0-1
It was a slow and disappointing week for Birmingham-Southern, as the Panthers only played one game and fell to Liberty on the road, 74-72. The Panthers trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half before putting on a serious charge late in the game that fell just short. Senior guard Jakob Sigurdarson led three Birmingham-Southern players in double-figures with 19 points. Junior forward Thomas Viglianco had 12 points in the game while sophomore guard Bucky McMillan added 11 points for the Panthers.
Birmingham-Southern will play its next four games at home, including three this week. UNC Asheville will be the first opponent in town as the Bulldogs invade Bill Battle Coliseum on January 17. Winthrop and Charleston Southern will be the other two schools to travel to Alabama, with the Eagles coming to town on January 19 and the Bucs arriving on January 22.
Radford Highlanders (6-9, 1-3) Last Week: 0-2
Radford’s defense was nowhere to be found this past week, as the Highlanders allowed both of their opponents to shoot over 50 percent as they dropped both of their games. Charleston Southern arrived at the Dedmon Center and shot a blistering 57.8 percent in beating Radford, 67-60. The hot-shooting of Radford opposition continued when the Highlanders hit the road to end the week, as Winthrop shot 52.2 percent. Radford could not overcome the sharp shooting from the Eagles and fell, 74-54.
Junior Whit Holcomb-Faye was the only consistent offensive weapon for the Highlanders over the past week, scoring 15 points against Charleston Southern and 17 points against Winthrop. Radford struggled offensively as a team, only making 37 of their 104 field goal attempts over the past week, which only is 35.6 percent.
Radford will have two chances this week to improve their own shooting and their defense. The Highlanders start the week on the road at VMI on January 19 before facing High Point at home three days later.
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (4-11, 1-3) Last Week: 1-2
It was not a great week for the Bulldogs, but they did manage to get their first conference win of the year as they beat VMI to close the week following losses to Winthrop and High Point. UNCA started the week at home against Winthrop and were never able to control the game as they fell 78-70. Junior forward Chad Mohn led all Bulldog scorers in the game with 14 points, but it was not enough to get the win.
The Bulldogs got big production from senior forward Bryan McCullough in their other two games of the week, as he scored 18 points in a 92-73 loss at High Point, then notched 23 points in UNCA’s 87-77 victory over VMI. Junior forward Oliver Holmes also had a big game in the win, scoring 21 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.
A pair of road games appears on the schedule this week for UNC Asheville as they hope to carry the momentum from their win over VMI into Birmingham-Southern and Liberty. The Bulldogs will face the Panthers on January 17 before heading to Lynchburg, Virginia to take on the Flames on January 22.
VMI Keydets (5-8, 0-3) Last Week: 0-2
VMI’s losing streak increased to six games this past week, as they dropped to 0-3 in the league with a pair of losses. The Keydets fell at home to Coastal Carolina, 79-68, before losing 87-77 at UNC Asheville in a battle between the only two winless teams in the league.
Freshman forward Reggie Williams continues to do his part for VMI as he averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds over the two games this past week. Junior guard Levar Joseph scored 10 points in both games over the past week and sophomore guard Matt Coward led the Keydets with 23 points against UNC Asheville as they were the only other offensive threats besides Williams.
The Keydets will host Radford in their only game of the upcoming week. The Highlanders will be coming into town on January 19 on a two-game losing streak, so both teams will be hungry for a victory.
