Eagles Returning To The Big South Title Game After Downing Longwood

Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop outscored Longwood 21-0 over the course of the end of the first half and early in the second half and it cruised to an 82-61 win, Thursday evening in the 2021 Hercules Tires Big South Conference semifinals.

Winthrop advances to its second straight Big South Title Game and 17^th overall as it will face 3^rd-seeded Campbell on Sunday, Mar. 7 at noon inside the Winthrop Coliseum.

WINTHROP (22-1)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS

• Charles Falden (19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals)
• Chandler Vaudrin (16 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists)
• Kelton Talford (11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal)

LONGWOOD (12-16)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS

• Juan Munoz (17 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists)
• DeShaun Wade (12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)
• Justin Hill (9 points, 1 rebound)

FIRST HALF

• Charles Falden set the tone early for the Eagles as he drilled a three on the first possession of the game
• Juan Munoz tied it up at 3-3 a few possessions later but the Eagles countered with a 16-0 run over the next five minutes to open up a double-figure lead
• Kelton Talford started the run as he boarded a Josh Corbin miss and scored while being fouled as he completed the three-point play for the 6-3 advantage
• Talford then forced a turnover leading to points as Chandler Vaudrin finished with a short jumper in the paint
• Falden topped off the run with a deep three for the 19-3 lead with 13:06 left in the half
• The Winthrop defense held the Lancers to 1-for-11 from the floor to help build the 16-point advantage
• Munoz stopped the run with a three and his basket got the Lancers going from the floor
• Including the Munoz three the Lancers connected on 12 of their next 14 shots, including making seven straight to make it a three-point game with five minutes play in the half
• Eagles weren’t rattled as they withstood the punches from Longwood and responded with 11 straight points to end the half
• After a steal by Falden gave the Eagles the last shot of the half, Vaudrin drove down the right side of the lane, flipped a pass back to Kyle Zunic who quickly floated a 10 footer to get the release off in time as the ball swished as time expired for a 44-30 lead at the break
• Eagles shot 56 percent from the field in the first half while holding Longwood to 43 percent

SECOND HALF

• Eagles scored the first 10 points of the half to make it a 21-0 run from the 11 straight points to finish the half
• The defense held the Lancers without a point for the first seven minutes and 10 seconds of the half to build a 24-point lead
• Winthrop pushed its lead to as much as much as 31 points with a little over six minutes left after Russell Jones Jr. scored off the drive

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Winthrop shot 45 percent for the game and Longwood finished at 42 percent
• The battle on the glass went to Winthrop 40-35 as the Eagles finished with 16 second chance points and Longwood had 13
• Defensively the Eagles forced 17 turnovers that led to 24 points as they also finished with nine steals
• Falden led the Eagles with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting as he was 5-for-7 behind the arc
• Vaudrin flirted with a triple-double as he had 16 points, eight rebounds and nine assists
• Talford was the third Eagle in double-figures with 11
• Munoz finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting while DeShaun Wade added 12 points

NOTABLES

• Winthrop reached 22 wins for the 10^th time in program history and 4^th time under Pat Kelsey
• Eagles have now won six straight heading into Sunday’s championship game
• The win gives Kelsey 185 career victories, which ranks 4^th place in Big South history
• Winthrop is now 42-4 in its last 46 games
• Eagles have now won five straight conference tournament games and are 52-23 all-time and 17-6 under Kelsey