Audio Highlights
ROCK HILL, SC— In a game that saw 24 lead changes it was top-seeded Winthrop that came out on top, 80-77 in overtime over 4th-seeded Gardner-Webb, to advance to its fourth straight Big South Conference Championship game.
Winthrop won its seventh straight contest and improved to 25-6 overall while Gardner-Webb falls to 19-14 with the loss. The Eagles will face seventh-seeded Campbell on Sunday, Mar. 5 at 1 p.m. in the championship game live on ESPN.
Senior guard and Big South Conference Player of the Year
Keon Johnson scored 31 points for the second straight game as he scored 29 of them in the second half and the overtime period combined. He helped lead a charge that rallied the Eagles from an eight-point second half deficit.
No points were bigger for Johnson and the Eagles than the two free throws he made with 3.5 seconds remaining to put the Eagles up 80-77. Gardner-Webb's D.J. Laster threw up a last second shot that was short and batted away as time expired.
Xavier Cooks gave the Eagles a two-point lead at 76-74 with under 30 seconds to play and then the Runnin' Bulldogs Tyrell Nelson was fouled after getting an offensive rebound but made just 1-of-2 at the line, giving the Eagles a one-point advantage. Johnson made two free throws with eight seconds left for a three-point lead. It looked like the Eagles might have come away with a steal after the ball was deflected but Cooks was called for a loose ball foul as LaQuincy Rideau made both free throws for Gardner-Webb's final points.
Cooks had a big game of 23 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high six blocks as he was a perfect 9-for-9 at the foul line. He and Johnson were the only other players in double-figures, but
Roderick Perkins added nine points and
Anders Broman had six. The Eagles were just 1-for-6 from the floor in overtime, but were a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line. The 15 rebounds by Cooks was the fourth highest total by an Eagle in a tournament game and the six blocks are a program record in a tournament game.
Johnson finished 14-for-15 at the foul line as the Eagles finished 25-of-28 as a team.
The game went to overtime thanks to a Jamaal Robateau three from the wing with 13 seconds left, just after Johnson had put Winthrop up three with two free throws. Johnson had a shot attempt as time expired in regulation but the shot was short.
Rideau led Gardner-Webb with 30 points while also posting four assists and four steals. Robateau had 14 points while Liam O'Reilly added 10 points, six assists and three steals.
The Eagles gave up the first points of the second half but reeled off nine straight points to grab a 32-31 lead. Over the next five minutes, the two teams traded the lead 13 times. Gardner-Webb even went up five points with 8:46 to play after two free throws from Rideau, but the Eagles stormed back to take lead again with just under six to play. The two teams continued back-and-forth in the second half until Robateau's three forced overtime
Winthrop led 7-6 after six and a half minutes, but back-to-back threes from Rideau put the Runnin' Bulldogs up 12-7. The lead pushed to 17-11 after Rideau knocked down a jumper but the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run that started with a stickback from
Josh Ferguson followed by and an
Anders Broman three from the corner and capped off by a jumper from
Bjorn Broman for an 18-17 lead with 8:15 left.
Gardner-Web fired right back with a three from the wing by Robateau as it outscored the Eagles 9-5 the rest of the way for a 29-23 lead at the break. Gardner-Webb shot 35 percent from the floor (3-for-8 from three) in the first half while the Eagles shot 30 percent and were just 2-for-13 behind the arc.
