Valentine's Day Conference Play Preview
Breaking down Feb 12th's games and looking forward to some Valentine's Day Hoops
There is a clear two in the league, in fact it’s so clear that we only have 3 teams with a mathematical chance of getting a Top 2 seed in Johnson City.
High Point, Winthrop, and UNC Asheville.
And that gets trimmed to just High Point and Winthrop with the next High Point win or UNC Asheville loss.
Despite that clear hierarchy at the top, the middle of the league continues to be one of the most exciting in the country. Team 3-6 are only separated by 1.5 games and if you count seeds 7 and 8, it’s 3.5 games. ALL VERY MUCH WITHIN REACH.
Let’s break down a massive Thursday night of hoops and preview the lovers day ahead:
Feb 12th Recap:
Winthrop beats Gardner Webb 103-85
Winthrop Notables:
Kareem Rozier with a CAREER HIGH 33 Points, including going 9-15 from behind the arc.
Logan Duncomb with another double double, this time with 24 points and 15 rebounds, along with a team high 6 assists.
Kody Clouet joined Logan and Kareem in double figures with 19 points.
Winthrop with 11 straight wins, currently the nations 4th longest winning streak.
Gardner Webb Notables:
Jacob Hogarth led the Runnin Bulldogs with 20 points along with 8 rebounds.
Jacob Hudson and Colin Hawkins joined Hogarth in double figures, Hudson with 17 points and Hawkins with 13 points.
UNC Asheville beats Longwood 79-74
UNC Asheville Notables:
Toyaz Solomon led Asheville with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Solomon also joined the 1000 points, 500 rebound, 100 blocks club, the 20th player to do so in Big South history.
Justin Wright joined Solomon with 24 points, Kam Taylor joined both in double figures with 22 points.
Longwood Notables:
Alphonzo Billups led Longwood with 20 points, a season high for Billups.
Elijah Tucker with a 15 points and 11 rebound double double.
Johan Nziemi with 11 points and Redd Thompson Jr with 10 points joined Tucker and Billups in double figures.
Charleston Southern beats Presbyterian 84-67
Charleston Southern Notables:
A’lahn Sumler returned from injury and led CSU in scoring with 16 points in just 21 minutes off the bench.
Lase Olalare with a new career high in points with 13 and career high in assists with 4.
Jesse Hafemeister with 15 points and Nate Brafford with 11 points joined Sumler and Olalare in double figures.
Charleston Southern breaks a 8 game losing streaking with this win.
Presbyterian Notables:
Jonah Pierce with 23 points led Presbyterian in scoring, Carl Parrish joined Pierce in double figures with 14 points.
Peterson, Pickett and Wilson all with 8 points each, only 6 bench points for the Blue Hose.
High Point beats USC Upstate 95-70
High Point Notables:
Rob Martin with 27 points led the Panthers in scoring, this is the 3rd time in the last 5 Martin has led the Panthers in scoring.
Owen Aquino with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with a tied for team high steals with 4.
Conrad Martinez with 15 points and Terry Anderson with 14 points joined Martin and Aquino in double figures.
High Point with 19 steals and 27 total forced turnovers.
USC Upstate Notables:
Mason Bendinger led USC Upstate with 15 points, his 7th time leading the Spartans in scoring.
Gregory, Skinner and Adkins all joined Bendinger with 13 points each.
Jafeth Martinez returned to the team and tallied 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Learic Davis missed another game with a shoulder injury but could be back by Saturday.
Feb 14th Previews:
Presbyterian at UNC Asheville - 2pm EST
Preview: Last time these two teams faced off UNC Asheville almost pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks of the season but fell short at the buzzer. Now UNC Asheville is at home, coming off a massive win on ESPNU but Presbyterian is coming in motivated after their loss. Both of these teams don’t provide a ton off the bench and I think Asheville has the better Starting 5, so I think Asheville gets a big home win.
Score Prediction: UNC Asheville 70 - Presbyterian 66
High Point at Gardner Webb - 2pm EST
Preview: Early in the season, HPU beat Gardner Webb by the largest margin in Big South Conference history, but a decent amount has changed since then. Gardner Webb got their first D1 win and seems much improved, and High Point have been to be at least beatable. While Gardner Webb is much improved and High Point has slipped up at times, I do think High Point wins this one but I think Gardner Webb keeps it close than many expect.
Score Prediction: High Point 94 - Gardner Webb 80
Charleston Southern at Radford - 2:30pm EST
Preview: Charleston Southern has finally snapped their cold spell and now they have to face Radford coming off 1 weeks rest. Last time the two faced off Radford pulled out an 84-75 win in the Buc Dome. In that game CSU shot horribly while Radford shot around there averages. I think CSU finally gets some momentum rolling and picks off Radford on the road.
Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 86 - Radford 80
USC Upstate at Longwood - 3pm EST
Preview: Longwood and USC Upstate are both coming off losses at home, now Upstate has to travel to play Longwood. Last time Upstate faced Longwood, Upstate won in the Hodge Center in something that I could barely even call basketball. Longwood I think takes this one pretty easily, the were pretty good near the end of the 2nd half and if it weren’t for a circus by Karmani Gregory, Longwood likely wins that game. I see Longwood getting revenge and splitting the season series.
Score Prediction: Longwood 73 - USC Upstate 65