Big South Conference Tournament Recaps

Conway, SC (SportsNetwork.com) – Shaquille Johnson had a monster game to lift Longwood past top-seeded Charleston Southern in the Big South Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

Johnson scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked five shots for the Lancers (11-22), who earned a 68-60 upset. Quincy Taylor chipped in 15 points and Leron Fisher scored 12 for ninth-seeded Longwood, which beat Presbyterian in the first round on Wednesday and will next face Winthrop in the semifinals.

Charleston Southern (19-11), which last won the Big South in 1997, shot just 38.2 percent and was led by Arlon Harper’s 17 points. Saah Nimley, the Big South’s Player of the Year, made just 4-of-12 shots and hit only 2-of-10 from 3-point range to finish with 13 points.

Longwood opened the game with a 14-2 run and carried a 29-20 lead to the break, but CSU started the second half with the first 12 points. Cedrick Bowen’s dunk gave the Buccaneers a 32-29 lead, but the Lancers followed with the next 13. Fisher’s triple gave Longwood a 42-32 advantage and CSU got only as close as four from there.

Final Score: Winthrop 67, Radford 66

Conway, SC (SportsNetwork.com) – Keon Moore scored 21 points and Winthrop held on to beat Radford 67-66 in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament on Friday.

The fifth-seeded Eagles (18-12) made just enough foul shots down the stretch to hold off the fourth-seeded Highlanders, who cut into a seven-point deficit over the final 34 seconds.

Winthrop trailed 24-21 at halftime but took the lead for good on Keon Johnson’s 3-pointer with 4:50 remaining in the game. The Eagles will face ninth-seeded Longwood in the semifinals after the Lancers knocked off No. 1 seed Charleston Southern earlier Friday.

Javonte Green had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Radford (21-11) and YaYa Anderson scored 16.

Final Score: Gardner-Webb 72, High Point 71 (OT)

Conway, SC (SportsNetwork.com) – Harold McBride scored 24 points as the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs stunned the High Point Panthers in overtime, 72-71, during the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Tournament at the HTC Center.

Also scoring in double figures for seventh-seeded Gardner-Webb (20-13) were Jerome Hill and Tyrell Nelson with 19 and 17 points, respectively, the former also clearing a game-high 14 rebounds. Tyler Strange accounted for seven points, five assists and five steals for a Bulldogs squad that will now meet up with Coastal Carolina in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

The second-seeded Panthers (22-9) were paced by John Brown who delivered a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds, while Lorenzo Cugini accounted for another 11 boards in the losing cause.

Gardner-Webb had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a shot by Strange along the baseline as time expired came up short, sending the meeting to overtime. Strange did open the extra session with a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs an early advantage, while Hill hit 1-of-2 at the charity stripe on the next possession to make the score 66-63.

Trailing by a point, 70-69, Strange found Hill on his way to the basket for a layup and a foul, his free throw with 18.5 seconds to play giving the Bulldogs a 72-70 edge.

Brown then took the ball right to the rim yet again, but he was fouled and missed the first of his free throws with 6.6 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, McBride was fouled two seconds later and stepped to the free-throw line where he missed a pair.

Without any timeouts remaining, High Point rushed the ball back down the floor, but a 3-point try from the wing missed the mark as Gardner-Webb scored another tournament upset on the day.

Final Score: Coastal Carolina 74, UNC-Asheville 57

Conway, SC (SportsNetwork.com) – Elijah Wilson produced a game-high 29 points as the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina defeated the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs, 74-57, in the quarterfinals of the Big South Conference Tournament at the HTC Center.

Wilson not only converted 10-of-15 from the floor on the night for the third- seeded Chanticleers (22-9), he also connected on a sizzling 7-of-10 shots behind the 3-point line in the victory. Warren Gillis pitched in with 14 points and Shivaughn Wiggins 11 and seven assists for a team that will now take on seventh-seeded Gardner-Webb in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

The sixth-seeded Bulldogs (15-16) were led by Ahmad Thomas who tallied 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench, but was also responsible for six turnovers in the losing cause. Andrew Rowsey generated 14 points, as well as five miscues of his own.

UNC-Asheville led at the break, 31-27, but then shot only 8-of-28 (.286) from the floor in the second half and missed all nine chances behind the 3-point line, en route to the 17-point setback.

In addition to limiting the visitors to only 4-of-19 shooting on the perimeter, Coastal Carolina also forced the Bulldogs into 21 turnovers on the night.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball