ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop men's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a win over Presbyterian College as it finished tied for second in the Big South Conference standings with Radford and Coastal Carolina.

The second place finish is the highest for a Winthrop team since the 2007-08 season as the Eagles finished 12-6 in the league. That is the most wins in conference play since 2009-10 and just the fifth time in the school's history a team had 12 or more league wins.

The Eagles finished in a three-way tie with Coastal and Radford that was determined by the second step of the tiebreaking process.  Because the three teams played each other an unequal amount of times, head-to-head results could not be used.  The next step of records against the top teams in the standings was needed, and High Point was the determining factor in seeding CCU, RU and WU.  Coastal and Radford each went 2-0 against HPU, while Winthrop was 0-2 which slotted the Eagles to the No. 5 seed. Winthrop will face Radford on Friday, Mar. 6 at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Winthrop enjoyed one of its finest seasons in the school's history. Offensively the Eagles rank 34^th nationally scoring 74.1 points, which are the most since 2006-07. The Eagles are ranked 35^th in three-point field goals per game and total three-point field goals made. The team's 232 total threes made on the year are the fifth most all-time, six back of fourth (238 set by 2005-06 squad). This team has a chance to be the fourth Eagle team to average eight or more threes per game in a single-season. Last year the Eagles were the first team since the 1989-90 team to shoot 70 percent or better at the free throw line and this year's team is shooting .721 which is currently the fourth best percentage in the program's history. The team's 45 percent shooting from the field is also the best since 2006-07. This team has a chance to become just the third Eagle team to shoot 45 percent or better from the floor in the last 22 seasons. The team also placed in the Kenpom Top 30 for pace and three-point shooting.

Redshirt senior Keon Moore leads the offense with 18.7 ppg and is one of the more prolific shooters in the school's history. Moore set the school's Div. I mark for points in a season with 542 and is six threes shy of tying the school record for threes in a season of 100 set by Michael Jenkins in 2006-07. Moore's scoring average is the fourth highest in school history for a single-season and the best average by a player since the program's move to the Div. I level and set the school record with the best scoring average in conference games only (19.9). He's currently sixth in the country in three-point field goals per game (3.24) and 11^th in three-point field goal percentage (.437). He has a chance to finish in the top five and maybe even set the new single-season record for three-point percentage. Moore could possibly set the school's career mark of .425 behind the arc as he's currently at .418. He has the fourth most 20-point games in school history with 20.

Senior Andre Smith became the program's 21^st player to score 1,000 points in a career. Smith also reached 200 career three-pointers and currently ranks fifth all-time. He is only the second player in school history, along with Hall of Famer Tyson Waterman, to reach 1,000 points, 300 assists and 200 made threes.

One of the more interesting notes for the Eagles this season was their performance on the road games in the Big South as they led at the half in eight of the nine and posted a 5-3 mark. It was the first winning record on the road in conference play since the 2007-08 team was 4-3.

For the fourth straight year, the Eagles won 10-plus games at home (three straight under Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey) and on Jan. 24 against Campbell the program captured its 600^th victory all-time. It's only the second time in the school's history that the Eagles have won 10 or more games at home in a season four straight years.

According to Kenpom, the Eagles finished first in the Big South Conference in defensive efficiency. Winthrop allowed 67.4 ppg which ranked third in the Big South as it led the league in three-point field goal percentage defense and was second in field goal percentage defense.

Smith is eighth in the Big South in steals per game and Moore is 11^th. The team has a total of 209 steals in 29 games which nearly match's last year's total of 211 in 33 games. A fun battled to watch has been freshmen Xavier Cooks and Duby Okeke race for the program's freshmen record of blocks in a single-season. Cooks surpassed the record of 44 in the regular season finale while Okeke tied it. The duo are ranked second and third in the Big South in blocks per game and have been a big part of the Eagles defensive success. The 134 blocks are the most since the 2009-10 team finished with 135 as this team has a chance to finish with more blocks than any Eagle team since 2002-03 and the second most since 1980-81.

Another key to the Eagles' success has been taking care of the basketball. The team has 358 turnovers through 29 games and the fewest a Winthrop team has ever had in a single-season is 393 by the 2011-12 team in 32 games. With 366 assists to 358 turnovers, the Eagles could become the first team since 2006-07 more assists than turnovers and just the fifth team to do so since the program moved to Div. I.

Winthrop closed the regular season by winning seven of its final 10 games and nine of its final 12 games.

The 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Conference Championship will be played on the campus of Coastal Carolina at The HTC Center.

All three first round games will be broadcast live on The Big South Network presented by State Farm.  The 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men's Basketball Championship will continue with the quarterfinals on Friday, March 6 and semifinals on Saturday, March 7 with both days being carried on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.  The Championship game will be contested Sunday, March 8 live on ESPN2 at 12:30pm.  The Big South's Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. 

All games will be played at The HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University.  Single-session tickets will go on sale ONLINE ONLY starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, March 1. Fans can visit https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2/team.asp?SponsorID=6997#.VPIQx47GpHY to place ticket orders.  Fans may purchase single-session tickets in person or over the phone in addition to online starting on Monday, March 2 and at The HTC Center only starting Tuesday through the rest of the Championships.  Fans wishing to purchase tickets over the phone may call 843-347-8499.

The Big South's tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

First Round – Wednesday, March 4 – Big South Network
Game 1: #8 Presbyterian vs. #9 Longwood, 12:00pm
Game 2: #7 Gardner-Webb vs. #10 Campbell, 2:00pm
Game 3: #6 UNC Asheville vs. #11 Liberty, 6:00pm
 
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 6 – ESPN3
Game 4: #1 Charleston Southern vs. #8/9 winner, 12:00pm
Game 5: #4 Radford vs. #5 Winthrop, 2:00pm
Game 6: #2 High Point vs. #7/10 winner, 6:00pm
Game 7: #3 Coastal Carolina vs. #6/11 winner, 8:00pm
 
Semifinals - Saturday, March 7 – ESPN3
Game 8:  Semifinals – Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 12:00pm
Game 9:  Semifinals – Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 2:00pm
 
Championship - Sunday, March 8 – ESPN2
Game 10:  Championship – Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 12:30pm