Radford, Va. –Hunter Hale scored a game-high 28 points to help Winthrop earn a 78-66 victory over third-seeded Gardner-Webb in the semifinals of the Hercules Tires Big South Men's Basketball Championship. The victory puts the Eagles into Sunday's championship game.
WINTHROP (23-10)
SCORING LEADERS
GARDNER-WEBB (16-16)
SCORING LEADERS
- Jaheam Cornwall (24 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
- Eric Jamison Jr. (14 points, 5 rebounds)
- Christian Turner (12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles got off to a good start as Hunter Hale deflected a pass on the first possession of the game, collected the ball and ran a 2-on-1 break feeding Chandler Vaudrin for the finish
- Vaudrin made it 4-0 in favor of Winthrop as he drove and scored at the rim
- Eagles missed their next four shots while Gardner-Webb grabbed a 5-4 lead behind a Jaheam Cornwall three and Ludovic Dufeal layup
- With the game tied 7-7, Josh Ferguson buried a deep three and Gardner-Webb answered with a jumper from Eric Jamison Jr.
- Both continued to trade baskets and leads as Nate Johnson followed the Jamison Jr. with a jumper only to have Vaudrin give Winthrop the lead right back scoring in the paint
- Cornwall buried an open three from the right wing for a 14-12 lead and Hale tied the game back up quickly as he drove to the rim and scored
- Trailing by a point, Cornwell hit another three with 11:32 left in the half and was fouled as he completed a four-point play for an 18-16 advantage
- There were eight lead changes in the first nine minutes but the Eagles followed the Cornwall four-point play with a 6-0 run to gain control of the lead over the next minutes
- Hale scored all six points starting with three free throws and then hit a triple with 9:23 left for the 22-18 advantage
- Gardner-Webb came back to tie the game at 22-22 and off an inbound play D.J. Burns Jr. backed his way near the paint and elevated over a double team to knockdown a jumper for the lead
- Following a defensive stand, Vaudrin hit Hale trailing the play for a straight away look for three as he pump faked, took a dribble and drained a three that forced Gardner-Webb to call a timeout
- Out of the timeout Nate Johnson drilled a three from the right side to make it a one point game with 3:26 left in the half
- After the Johnson three Vaudrin sparked an 8-0 run that put the Eagles up 37-28 with 10 seconds left in the half
- Cornwall raced to the rim with the ball and was able to score on a layup as time expired to make it a 37-30 lead for Winthrop at the break
- Eagles shot 47 percent from the floor in the first half while holding Gardner-Webb to 37 percent
- Both teams were 5-of-11 from three in the first 20 minutes
SECOND HALF
- Johnson scored in the paint to open the second half scoring to bring the Runnin' Bulldogs within five points
- Hale hit his fourth three of the game for an eight point lead and then back-to-back buckets from Kyle Zunic gave Winthrop its largest lead at 44-32
- A tip-in by Jamison Jr. made it a single-digit deficit for Gardner-Webb but a 6-0 spurt capped off by a Falden three from the wing gave Winthrop a 52-37 lead
- Gardner-Webb scored six straight points to get it back to single-digits with 12 minutes remaining
- Eagles came right back with five straight on a Micheal Anumba basket inside and a Zunic three from the corner
- Leading by 10 points, Vaudrin drove the middle of the lane and slammed it home for a 59-47 lead with 8:32 that forced a Gardner-Webb timeout
- Gardner-Webb got the Winthrop down to single-digits one last time with just over seven to play but the Eagles used a 6-0 spurt to lead by 15
- The Eagles held a double-figure lead the remainder of the game and finished 11-for-12 at the line down the stretch
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor while Gardner-Webb shot 39 percent
- Eagles were 8-for-22 behind the arc while Gardner-Webb finished 7-of-23
- Winthrop had a 37-33 edge on the glass but did finish with a season-low six offensive boards
- Hale finished 12-of-13 at the foul line as he finished with a game-high 28 points
NOTABLES
- Winthrop advances to its 16th Big South Championship game and 5th under Pat Kelsey
- It's the first title game appearance since 2017 when the Eagles claimed the championship with a 76-59 win over Campbell
- Eagles are now 4-0 against Gardner-Webb in the Big South Tournament
- Hale's 28 points are the 4th most points scored in a conference tournament game by an Eagle while his 12 free throws are the 3rd most
- Winthrop improved to 16-6 all-time in conference tournament semifinal games
UP NEXT
Eagles will face the winner between top-seeded Radford and 5
th-seeded Hampton in the championship game on Sunday, Mar. 8.
