Big South Round Up: Panthers, Bucs, Highlanders Climb to the Top

ANARCHY! ANARCHY! That's what the Big South is right now.

High Point's Crazy Comeback

John Brown has the final six games of the season to prove he should be the back-to-back Big South Player of the Year and last night was a good start by dropping 34 points and grabbing 4 boards against Winthrop in a 73-72 win for High Point. The Panthers came back from a 16 point second half deficit and Brown nailed the game winning free throws with 3.1 seconds left at the end of the game. All in all Brown was 12-for-15 from the charity stripe and accounted for nearly half of the Panthers field goals. Devante Wallace and Anthony Lindauer had big nights from beyond the arc combining for 20 points and a 6-for-8 showing.

Keon Moore continued his push to be in the Big South Player of the Year conversation as well dropping 25 points on Panthers in the Eagles road loss. Xavier Cooks also had a solid night just missing a double-double with 10 points and 9 boards.

Winthrop has two huge home games on the immediate horizon with Gardner-Webb visiting Saturday followed by Asheville coming to town next week. High Point makes the short trip to Campbell on Saturday, a team they beat 69-62 back on January 10.

Buc Dome Madness

Somehow over 900 people wedged themselves into the Buc Dome last night and the game time temperature had to be over 100 degrees in the building. Before I touch on the Bucs big in-state win I have to commend Barclay Radebaugh for his efforts in making the nation's second smallest venue into a truly awesome/hostile atmosphere. CSU's homecourt advantage has been massive this year and so has the play of Saah Nimley who went for 24 in the Bucs' 83-72 victory over Coastal Carolina last night. CSU owned the latter second half and had a great night from Will Saunders off the bench. Saunders posted 18 points and 8 rebounds and was 4-for-5 from three.

Coastal Carolina has now dropped five of their last eight and just didn't get any production from their bench last night. Warren Gillis, Shivaughn Wiggins, Elijah Wilson, and Badou Diagne combined for 82% of the Chants offensive production last night. Cliff Ellis remarked after the game that he just didn't think that Coastal had enough in the tank last night.

The good news for Coastal fans is Liberty comes to town on Saturday. Meanwhile Charleston Southern will head to Longwood to play a team that was in disarray in the second half of their first meeting due to some first half injuries.

Radford Pulls Even With Longwood

The Highlanders avenged an early double-overtime loss to Longwood this year with an 80-75 win in the Dedmon Center last night. Five Highlanders finished in double-figures lead by Cameron Jones with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Radford killed the Lancers on the boards as Longwood continues to play without big man Lotanna Nwogbo.

Jayson Gee's Lancers just can't seem to get over the hump without Nwogbo but continue to battle night in and night out. Last night's performance was particularly impressive because Leron Fisher, who is averaging over 14 points per game in conference play, injured his ankle and just played 23 minutes for the Lancers. Shaquille Johnson set the high watermark for Longwood with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. The Auburn transfer is now averaging 14 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in conference play.

Radford will head to Presbyterian for a Valentines Day date in Clinton. Longwood will host Charleston Southern and the status of Leron Fisher is up in the air for the Lancers.

Big South Standings

The Remaining Title Race

High Point Panthers
Games Remaining: 5 (2 Home/3 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 61-64, 33-31
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 5-0
Key Match Up: 2/28 at Charleston Southern

Radford Highlanders
Games Remaining: 5 (2 Home/3 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 61-65, 30-34
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 3-2
Key Match Up: 2/16 vs Coastal Carolina

Charleston Southern Buccaneers
Games Remaining: 5 (2 Home/3 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 58-70, 27-37
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 4-1
Key Match Up: 2/28 vs High Point

UNC Asheville Bulldogs
Games Remaining: 5 (3 Home/2 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 64-62, 31-33
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 2-2
Key Match Up: 2/18 at Winthrop

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Games Remaining: 5 (2 Home/3 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 49-80, 20-44
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 4-0
Key Match Up: 2/16 at Radford

Gardner-Webb Bulldogs
Games Remaining: 5 (2 Home/3 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 71-54, 36-29
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 2-2
Key Match Up: 2/28 at Radford

Winthrop Eagles
Games Remaining: 5 (3 Home/2 Away)
Combined Opponent Record: 53-74, 27-37
Record Against Remaining Opponents: 4-1
Key Match Up: 2/14 vs Gardner-Webb