Coastal Carolina Wins the Big South (Recap of Winthrop v. CCU in Big South Championship Game)

The day after a very successful Trenholm Little League Opening Day Ceremony, I ventured out and made the 2 1/2 hour trip from Columbia to Conway to see a guaranteed state of South Carolina team in the NCAA Tournament as Conway's own Coastal Carolina "hosted" Rock Hill's Winthrop in the Big South Championship game on Sunday.

I have to give credit to my fellow Mid Majority 800 Games Played writer Matt Cayuela for getting me out to the gorgeous HTC Center on the stunning campus of CCU on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  He had tried to get me out to the Big South Championship last season, but as I noted in my previous article, I needed to coach my older son at baseball practice that day.  This season, both my teams practice on Saturdays, so Sundays are now free and I can't pass up an automatic bid championship to the NCAA Tournament.

As I parked my car in a spot marked "Visitor" in front of what might have been the Admissions building on campus near to the HTC Center, I was struck by the Palmetto trees, the water fountain in front of the HTC Center and the general newness of the campus.  As I got up to the entrance of the HTC Center, there was a battle of the pep bands going on with a nice crowd gathered to soak in the music.

After I went to will call and got to my seat in Section 107, Row I, seat 7, I was quickly greeted by Matt and Ian McCormick, "The OmniPresence of South Carolina Hoops".   Matt, Ian and I were the top three 800 Games Played writers as far as number of recaps and since I moved to Columbia in August 2012, all three of us are South Carolina residents.   We caught up for a few minutes and we posed together for a picture.  Matt, known as Myrtle Beach Happy Hour on Twitter (@MBHH), since he reviews Myrtle Beach restaurants and bars, went back to his seat on the other side of the arena.  Since I had an extra ticket due to my older son wanting to stay home, Ian joined me for the championship game.

The section we were sitting in was behind the Winthrop bench, near the side of their basket with the band, cheerleaders and mascot.  The person who took our picture happened to be Devin Prescott's father.  Prescott is a freshman forward that comes off the bench for the Eagles. Prescott's mom was also there and his parents were featured twice in the Kiss Cam segment feature during a media timeout.

Big South has an interesting way of player introductions.   Instead of announcing each team's starters, they announce a starter for each team, one for Winthrop, one for Coastal Carolina.  It makes it seem like a heavyweight match-up and it's pretty cool.

The Chanticleers came out pretty strong led by guard Warren Gillis, their second leading scorer on the season, who scored the first four points of the game.  Coastal Carolina would extend the lead to 12-6 on a three pointer by Josh Cameron, the team's third leading scorer on the season.

But Winthrop would respond with three pointers from "Keon Squared", as Keon Johnson and Keon Moore hit from beyond the arc to tie the game at twelve.  After Cameron hit two free throws to put the Chanticleers up two, 16-14, Andre Smith joined the Eagles long distance club, nailing his own three pointer to give Winthrop their first lead, 17-16.

After Joab Jerome hit one of two free throws to put the Eagles up 18-16, the Chanticleers responded with a 12-0 run over the next five minutes.  Cameron was responsible for seven of the twelve points, including a three pointer.  His two point jumper capped the spurt and put Coastal Carolina up 28-18.

By this time, the HTC Center was raucously loud.  So loud that when Winthrop Head Coach Pat Kelsey furiously tried to call timeout, none of his players, who were setting up a play on the other end of the court, nor the referees could hear him.  Finally, one referee turned around and notice Kelsey frantically giving the timeout signal and gave him the timeout.

Whatever Kelsey said in the timeout worked, as the Eagles scored the next six points.  Prescott capped the mini spurt with an emphatic dunk off an assist by Jerome.  The dunk brought a roar of approval from his parents, as well as the rest of the Winthrop fans and cut the Chanticleers lead to four, 28-24.

But again, Coastal Carolina would respond, scoring the last six points of the half, including four by Gillis.  His layup put the Chanticleers up ten at halftime, 34-24.  Gillis had ten points and four assists in the first twenty minutes of the game.

Halftime at the HTC Center is full of fun.  First, there was the Winthrop students vs. the Coastal Carolina students in a game of "Musical Chairs basketball".  The student contestants dribble a ball walking around the chairs while the music is playing.  When it stops, whatever basket they are facing, they must dribble to the basket and hit a layup, then dribble back to get an open chair. Two students are eliminated at a time. It came down to two CCU students and one just barely beat the other to win the game.



If that was just it, that would be pretty good halftime entertainment.  But the Coastal Carolina games are also known for "The Interlude", which is about a two minute dance segment towards the end of halftime, where the entire crowd goes through various dance routines while the PA plays the musical interlude.  It's fun, entertaining and inventive.

The second half started with Winthrop's Jerome hitting a three point play to cut the lead to seven, 34-27.  But Coastal Carolina's leading scorer, freshman Elijah Wilson, who sat most of the first half due to foul trouble, came alive and started another CCU run. Wilson first tipped in a miss of his own layup, then buried a three pointer off another Gillis assist.  After Gillis hit one of two free throws, Cameron hit a layup to finish an 8-0 spurt and give the Chanticleers a commanding 42-27 lead.

Pat Kelsey could not wait for the Under 16 media and called a timeout.  It seemed to work as "Keon Squared" went to work with Moore making a jumper, then Johnson burying a three pointer to cut the Chanticleers lead back to ten, 42-32.  But the Eagles could not break the lead into single digits, staying within eleven, 47-36 on a Prescott jumper.

Looking to put the game away, CCU outscored Winthrop 10-3 over the next three minutes.  Gillis, as he had been all game, was in the middle of the spurt with a layup and two assists.  Wilson's jumper made it 57-39 with 9:42 left.  The Chanticleers would basically hold serve over the next three and half plus minutes.  A Cameron layup put CCU up seventeen, 61-44 with about six minutes left.

I turned to Ian and said this is about over, Ian called a run for Winthrop.  Sure enough, the Eagles would score the next eight straight points.  Smith's three pointer cut the lead to ten, 61-51 which resulted in the Winthrop section's loudest ovation of the night.   After Johnson hit one of two free throws, the CCU lead was finally down to single digits again, 61-52 with 4:36 left, plenty of time to complete the comeback.

But the host team, or better yet, the home team would not allow that to happen. Cliff Ellis' team would score six straight points, capped by a Gillis dunk, and the Chanticleers were up fifteen, 67-52 with 2:45 left.  The CCU students started to swell closer to the basket in their section, knowing the end was near.  The Eagles would get only as close as thirteen the rest of the way.  After Brandon Vega hit two free throws for Winthrop to cut the lead back to fifteen, Gillis and company ran out the final thirty five seconds.  The buzzer sounded and the CCU students rushed the court as the Chanticleers won the Big South Tournament 67-52.

Gillis was the man for Coastal Carolina on Sunday.  The Tournament MVP scored twenty three points on nine of fifteen shooting and added seven assists. Cameron added nineteen points while Badou Diagne sneakily added seventeen points and Wilson had twelve points for the Chanticleers, who shot fifty eight percent from the field.   Moore led the Eagles with nineteen points and Jerome was the only other double figure scorer for Winthrop with thirteen points.  CCU held Winthrop to thirty two percent shooting from the field.

Coastal Carolina won their first league championship since 1993 and clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  With their four top scorers on the day returning next season and the HTC Center hosting another Big South Tournament next year, its final year of a three year deal, the Chanticleers could very well be dancing again.

But as the students celebrated mid court, all they could think about is the now.  And that means a NCAA Tournament game in less than two weeks.  That's what March Madness is all about.

Welcome to the Big South (Recap of Campbell v. Coastal Carolina)

I got a message Thursday night from Matt Cayuela, writer for the Mid Majority and otherwise known as @MBHH, Myrtle Beach Happy Hour.  He's the man who knows all the happy hour places in the Myrtle Beach area.  Matt sent me a message Thursday night saying he had an extra ticket for Saturday night's Campbell v. Coastal Carolina game.  It took me all of five seconds to say "Count me in. I will buy dinner."

Immediately after South Carolina's win over Arkansas, I hopped in the car and took the 2 1/2 hour drive from Columbia to Coastal Carolina, which is located in Conway, a few minutes from Myrtle Beach.  The route is basically I-77 to I-20 East through Florence, to US 76 and then Route 501 where Coastal is located.  Along the way, I stopped for gas and a banana shake at a Pilot/Dairy Queen. Sadly I was driving, so I didn't have time for a Blizzard.

Despite driving past our meeting point, I quickly u-turned and parked at Tongy's Schmackhouse, a very good sports bar/restaurant located in the University Commons, a mall located right across from the university. I met Matt and he drove us over to the HTC Center, the Chanticleers new arena.

The HTC Center, which just opened this season, seats 3200, about the same occupancy of Rose Hill Gym. It reminds me of LIU Brooklyn's Wellness Center. It's a very nice arena and you best like teal, which is the Chanticleers' team color. Our seats were located in the last row of Section 114, which is dead center court. The HTC Center is the home for the Big South Tournament for the next three years and it's a worthy home for the Tournament.


Now when you are playing on the level of the Big South, you have to be creative in recruiting players. That's because there are a significant number of colleges in the North and South Carolina area, with many schools at higher D1 conferences. And both Campbell and South Carolina are very creative when it comes to recruiting.

In the case of Campbell and coach Robbie Laing, it's welcoming transfers, whether JUCOs or transfers from higher level Division I schools. Campbell has from my count five JUCO/community college players and four Division I transfers - forward Antwon Oliver (Iowa State), Darius Leonard (Kent State), Reco McCarter (VCU) and Darren White (James Madison). White was Campbell's leading scorer until he went down with a season ending injury. Campbell's style of recruiting is working as they entered the game 5-1 in conference.

In the case of Coastal Carolina and Cliff Harris, it's recruiting foreign players. The Chanticleers have five players from foreign countries - El Hadj Ndieguene and Badou Diagne (both from Senegal), Michael Enanga (Cameroon), Uros Ljeskovic (Montenegro) and Tristian Curtis (Bahamas). And having foreign players results in humorous banter. During the game, Ljeskovic, a freshman, turned over the ball. Matt commented to me "You know how freshmen are, especially Montenegran freshmen."

The Chanticleers jumped out quickly to a 12-4 lead as Kierre Greenwood hit a three point play. But the Camels responded with a 9-2 run as McCarter buried a three pointer to cut the CCU to one, 14-13 with eleven minutes left in the half. But the Chanticleers extended the lead back to five 18-13.

The Camels responded again with another 9-2 spurt. Darian Hooker hit a three pointer and was fouled. He made the free throw, then later hit another three pointer to tie the game at twenty. Andrew Ryan capped the spurt with a jumper and the Camels had a 22-20 lead with 5:45 left in the half.

The Chanticleers would respond by ending the half on a 9-0 run led by their three leading scorers on the season, Anthony Raffa, Greenwood and Warren Gillis. Gillis tied the game at 22, then Raffa buried a three pointer to put the Chanticleers up three. Greenwood would score the last two baskets and CCU went up at the half 29-22.

During halftime, CCU honored its over 250 student athletes that had a 3.0 or higher for the previous semester, including five students who had a perfect 4.0. Then right before the start of the second half, as Matt had warned me at the start of halftime, the PA system played "The Interlude". It's a video of the Chanticleer doing various dance moves to a song, which includes "The Robot", and the fans are welcome to follow along. Matt did his part and got up and danced. I just watched in amusement.

The second half started exactly as the first half left off with the Camels in a scoring drought. Perhaps it was "The Interlude" that affected them as Campbell failed to score for the first six plus minutes of the second half. The Camels had not scored in close to twelve minutes until Trey Freeman hit a layup with 14:52 left in the game. Fortunately for Campbell, CCU had only scored six points in the second half and was only up 35-24.

But that was as close as the Camels would get in the second half as the Chanticleers outscored them 15-6 over the next five and half minutes. Tristian Curtis started the spurt with two jumpers and Greenwood capped it with two free throws to put CCU up 50-30 with nine minutes left in the game.

Since most of my coverage on my blog the last several seasons has been the CAA, I have got to know the VCU Rams and their media/fans through Twitter extensively. Coming into last season, Reco McCarter was a highly thought of recruit who had been recruited by several major schools and ended up going to VCU. Because of VCU's incredible depth of talent, McCarter barely played. In fact, McCarter became famous among the VCU fans on when he played, which was mostly in blowouts.

Not surprisingly, McCarter transferred to Campbell, close to his home, received a waiver to play this season and currently starts for the Camels. You can see why VCU originally recruited him. He is six foot six, very athletic, can drive to the basket and hit the three. As Matt noted, the Camels have a lot of those type players, what you would call tweeners. Not big enough to play the #4 on the major college level and bigger than your average #2 guard. In fact, Campbell has nine players on the squad that range six foot four to six foot six. With the exception of the injured White and Ryan, they are all listed as forwards.

I was hoping for a good game from McCarter. But outside of the three pointer in the first half, he somewhat struggled. He missed an open layup, then fumbled a pass on what would have been an easy layup. In the second half, McCarter missed two free throws. Things were so rough for McCarter that on one play he got the ball and had an open lane for a layup. But Coach Laing called timeout as he started his drive. McCarter would end up with eight points on three of ten shooting in twenty seven minutes.

With the Chanticleers up twenty and the game no longer in doubt, the last several minutes were highlighted by the strong performance of the Camels' Leek Leek, one of their "tweener' forwards. He scored twelve points in the last nine minutes of the contest, hitting jumpers, layups, free throws and even a three pointer. Leek ended up scoring fourteen points more than double his season average going into the game.

However, Leek's one man late second half run wasn't enough as the Chanticleers defeated the Camels 73-59. Raffa and Greenwood combined for thirty eight points, ten rebounds, five assists and five steals. Ndieguene had nine points and eight rebounds. Hooker led the Camels with fifteen points.

The Chanticleers shot forty nine percent from the field and hit twenty two of their thirty one free throws. The Camels actually shot better from three point range, ten of twenty five, than two point range, eleven of thirty one.

After the game, Matt and I headed back to Tongy's. He had the wings and I had a burger called the Bear. Both of us agreed the food was quite good. With a long drive back to Columbia, I washed down three iced teas, much to the surprise of the bartender. After the third iced tea and the bill was paid. Matt and I said our goodbyes. I told him I enjoyed my first Big South game and plan to visit the HTC Center again soon.

Maybe I will even be there for the Big South Tournament.