Snow Day Special Conference Preview
Breaking down the action for Jan 21st and previewing the action on Jan 23rd and Jan 24th
Well, we have a new top dog in the conference, as after their win on Wednesday night.
WINTHROP takes a .5 game lead over High Point in the conference standings, and now High Point makes any early trip to Radford due to the incoming snow storm.
All 4 games in total have been moved with 3 being moved to Friday with Winthrop/PC being earlier on Saturday.
Lets break down a rare Big South Friday and Saturday slate and much more.
Jan 21st Recap:
UNC Asheville beats USC Upstate 83-69
Recap: The first game of the Ingles I-26 rivalry which happen to begin with UNC Asheville breaking out into a 5-0 lead before Upstate could get on the board. Upstate was able to comeback and tie the game at 10 and kept it close through most of the first half but was never able to break through and take the lead. With the game tied at 30, Upstate seemingly stalled out to end the half as Asheville went on a 6-0 run to end the half leading 36-30.
Just like the end of the first half, Asheville continued their run getting it to 8-0 before Upstate was able to score. Upstate was able to keep it close throughout the 2nd half until giving up a run with around 8 minutes to go which game Asheville their first double digit lead of the game. Asheville was able to hold onto such a lead winning 83-69.
UNC Asheville Takeaways:
KTwenty: Kam Taylor is the 1st UNC Asheville player to score 20 points in the first 7 games of conference play.
Burning Sage: Sage Tolentino with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 stocks in a very useful 14 minutes something Asheville could use going forward.
USC Upstate Takeaways:
Martinez Block Party: With his 2 blocks in this game, Jafeth moves to 7th all time for most blocks in a season by an USC Upstate Spartan.
Bendinger’s Best: Mason Bendinger with likely his best game this season, 28 points on 12-15 from the field and 4-4 from behind the arc.
Winthrop beats Radford 76-75
Recap: In a game that would decide 1st place in the conference entering this week, it was like neither team wanted it with the first 3 possessions ending in turnovers before Winthrop opened up the scoring with a 3. After a long series of back and forth, Radford got up to a 18-12 lead before once again a long series of back forth ended with Radford taking the lead at the free throw and taking a 33-32 lead into halftime.
The second half started just like the entire first half was, constant back and forth until Winthrop hit a dry spell which sparked off a 11-0 Radford run giving them a 10 point lead and what seemed to be all the momentum. The Radford’s curse struck again as Winthrop was able to cut into the lead as Radford hit dry spell’s of their own even taking a 3 point lead late. Radford come back and took the lead, and was sent to the free throw line with 19 seconds left but only converted 1 of 2 giving Winthrop a chance to tie or win. And Win they did as Kody Clouet hit a buzzer beater 3 to win the game after Radford’s late heave did not go in.
Winthrop Takeaways:
FIGHT: Despite not having the game go the way the Eagles likely wanted, they found a way to win and comeback from down 10.
COMMANDER CLOUET: Kody Clouet with his 2nd big buzzer beater this season to give Winthrop a big win, the first coming against LIU.
Turnovers: Winthrop forced 14 1st half turnovers and 19 in the entire game, Radford came in averaging around 12 per game.
Radford Takeaways:
Leads: Radford has now blown back to back double digit leads, last week Del Jones saved them, this game he tried but was out done, Radford has GOT to control their leads better.
Rebounding: Winthrop entered the game as one of the best rebounding teams in the Big South but was out done on the boards by Radford 31-28.
Longwood beats Gardner Webb 91-56
Recap: In a game Longwood really needed after the heartbreaker in Radford, they came out from the opening jump. Gardner Webb got their first lead 3-2 but after that it was all Longwood. Longwood began with a 10-0 run as they took their lead back going up 12-3 before Gardner Webb cut it to 5 before once again Longwood went on a this time 16-2 run going up 28-10. Despite Gardner Webb having the lead down to 12 at one point, Longwood carried an 18 point lead into the locker room.
The 2nd half was much like the first half on repeat, Gardner Webb was able to cut the lead to 14 but then Longwood fired off their last big run of the game this one being a 12-2 run putting then up 22. Gardner Webb was not able to get it any closer than 20 for the rest of the game as Longwood went on to win by a margin of 35.
Longwood Takeaways:
Double Double Fever: Both Elijah Tucker (21 points and 10 rebounds) and Jacoi Hutchinson (14 points and 10 assists) had double doubles.
Steal City: Pittsburgh must have rubbed on Longwood as in this one Longwood had 14 steals, including 5 from Benard which is tied 8th most in school history in a single game.
Gardner Webb Takeaways:
I am completely out on this team until further notice.
Presbyterian beats Charleston Southern 87-83
Recap: Coming off a weeks rest, Charleston Southern had the first leads of the game with 2-0 and 4-3 but took the 6-4 lead and then after back and forth took a 10-9 lead. After taking that lead, PC went on a 13-2 run going up 23-11 and then over the next nearly 5 minutes only 5 points got scored, all by Charleston Southern. Presbyterian then stretched their lead to 11 and would maintain a similar gap until a buzzer beating layup by Sumler cut the lead to 9 before halftime.
In the 2nd half, Charleston Southern kept in double digits for most of the first chunk cutting the lead to 6 and 7 multiple times but never getting over the hump. Presbyterian then was able to stretch it to 12 before once again CSU cut the lead to 6 but Presbyterian got it back to double figures. Presbyterian got the lead to 15 with just over 5 minutes to go but CSU didn’t stop fighting cutting the lead to 4 with just 15 seconds left but Sumler missed a free throw for a 4 point play and after the usual foul game Presbyterian escapes with a 4 point win.
Presbyterian Takeaways:
FAB FIVE: Presbyterian with all 5 starters in double figures led by Jonah Pierce with 21 points.
Chidi ChiakBLOCKU: Chidi Chiakwelu with a stellar 4 blocks coming off the bench for Presbyterian.
Charleston Southern Takeaways:
Stellar Sumler: A’lahn Sumler with another stellar game, this time 26 points and 6 assists with the absence of Luke Williams.
1 Possession Away: CSU’s 2-4 record is VERY deceiving, if a few players go different in each game, CSU could very well be 6-0 in conference.
Jan 23rd and 24th Preview:
USC Upstate at Gardner Webb - Jan 23rd - 7pm EST
Preview: The first of the three games to have been postponed to Friday is a rematch of the 8-9 game last season in Johnson City, and both teams enter this game in those same spots, just flipped. As I said in my takeaways for Gardner Webb, I am completely out on this team, if there was a game they could win, it would be this one but I still have seen nothing in their past 2 games that makes me think that will happen, especially with this game being in a weird scheduling spot. I think Upstate wins this one pretty handedly and gets their 2nd win, and 2nd road win.
Score Prediction: USC Upstate 82 - Gardner Webb 66
High Point at Radford - Jan 23rd - 7pm EST
Preview: High Point gets their week off cut one day short thanks to this game being moved and now they have to face a Radford team coming off a loss to Winthrop at the buzzer. This game comes down to two things for me, one how does High Point handle coming off their rest and how does Radford come off their loss and having a look ahead spot having to go to Charleston Southern next week. This game will probably be the better of the 3 games but in the end I think the rest is the deciding factor as High Point gets a statement road win over a very interesting Radford bunch.
Score Prediction: High Point 91 - Radford 85
Charleston Southern at Longwood - Jan 23rd - 7pm EST
Preview: The “last” of the Friday night Big South games has Charleston Southern going to Farmville to face Longwood. Longwood coming off one of their best wins of the season and CSU seemingly coming off their worst loss of the year. This game being on Friday is rough for Charleston Southern considering they just played at Presbyterian. I think CSU is the better team, but I think Longwood being at home for both games and having an easier game headed into this one gives them the edge.
Score Prediction: Longwood 77 - Charleston Southern 73
Winthrop at Presbyterian - Jan 24th - 2pm EST
Preview: The only game to stay on it’s scheduled day was Winthrop at Presbyterian but even this game was effected moving up around 2 and 1/2 hours. Winthrop now with sole possession of first place until their bye game are coming off a massive buzzer beater win over Radford. Presbyterian is a shocking 4-2 after rattling off 3 straight, but I do think that streak ends. Winthrop could come out and lose like they did after their buzzer beater win over LIU but I don’t think that happens and this trip is not like the others where they have a massive drive back and little rest, this is a quick trip (not pun intended) for Winthrop and I see them stopping at Quik Trip after they get the win in this one.
Score Prediction: Winthrop 84 - Presbyterian 79