University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Bulldogs Are Going Dancing! Asheville Wins Big South Championship
03.06.2016 | Men's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Asheville 77 – Winthrop 68
Teams: Asheville (22-11)
Winthrop (23-9)
Round: Big South Championship
Location: Gore Arena / Buies Creek, N.C.
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – UNC Asheville is going dancing! The Bulldogs head to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history after using a second half rally to down Winthrop 77-68 in the Big South Championship game Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs win their first Big South Championship since 2012 and their fifth overall while receiving the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Dwayne Sutton tallied 25 points and 18 rebounds to earn Tournament MVP honors. Sam Hughes added 15 points – all in the second half, while Kevin Vannatta had 12 and Dylan Smith tallied 11.
Jimmy Gavin led Winthrop with 31 points while Joshua Davenport added 15. Xavier Cooks had 12 rebounds and nine points before fouling out.
In the third Championship meeting between the two teams and 11th overall in the tournament, the teams combined for nine ties and five lead changes.
Gavin scored five of Winthrop's first seven points as the teams traded baskets and were tied at 7-7 at the first media timeout. Asheville went ahead 14-9, but a three from Gavin and dribble-drive from Cooks tied it at 14-14 with 11:33 left in the first half. The game was tied for the fifth time with 7:58 left in the first half as neither team allowed a run at that point. Asheville's largest lead during the span was five points, while Winthrop's largest advantage was just two.
Cooks gave Winthrop a two-point lead at 20-18 with a layup, and then the Eagles moved ahead by 5 with 4:22 remaining. Keon Johnson's three-pointer stretched the Eagle lead to 8, with another Gavin three to push the lead to 11. A dunk by Davenport capped Winthrop's biggest first half lead before the Bulldogs cut to the margin to nine at intermission.
The first half featured six ties and four lead changes. Winthrop went on a 13-4 run to close out the half after a 20-20 tie. Gavin had 11 at the break while Davenport had 10. Asheville was led by Sutton's seven points.
Asheville opened the second half on a 6-2 run to get back within 5 in addition to holding the Eagles to just 2-of-10 from the field in the opening five minutes. Sutton eventually tied it at 39-39 on free throws, only to see Davenport get inside for a lay-in at 13:57 for a traditional three-point play.
The teams traded baskets and leads three times during a five-minute span, until Smith drained a deep three and Vannatta put in a lay-up to give the Bulldogs a 3-point lead at 49-46 to force a Winthrop timeout with 11:05 remaining. The Bulldogs kept Winthrop at length and maintained a two-point lead at the 7:53 mark as Sutton and Smith rallied the squad and took advantage of bonus fouls after the 10-minute mark. Vannatta's tip-in gave Asheville its largest lead at six (62-56) with 6:38 left and the Bulldogs built their lead and eventual winning margin from there.
