I said the other day if Coastal could beat PC and Winthrop then it would likely win the regular-season Big South championship. After Saturday's loss in the Winthrop Coliseum, all bets are off.
The Chants will remain atop the standings no matter what happens today between second-place Radford and UNC Asheville, but they could see their advantage dwindle to just one game. It's still an advantage, but it's a much more precarious one than Coastal took into their bout with the Eagles. The Highlanders will have certainly gained a mental boost knowing that Coastal lost, and only time will tell if Coastal can rebound from this loss as well as it did after the one to Radford.
I thought Coastal did what it should Saturday. The Chants sagged in man to man and forced Winthrop, the Big South's worst shooting team, to hit shots. That didn't happen regularly for the first 30 minutes, but the Eagles found their groove for a large portion of the final 10. Was it luck? Maybe, but understand that Winthrop plays so much better in its own building than it does anywhere else.
There is a certain energy and aura that you don't get at any other venue in the league. It's the conference's biggest stage, and more often than not, Winthrop plays up to that level. Coastal could have never known that the Eagles would suddenly get hot, especially when you consider the dreadful shooting performance they put on at Kimbel Arena earlier this year.
The Chants did an amazing job of hitting free throws down the stretch just to keep the game close. Once Winthrop went up 64-55, Coastal could have easily folded and taken their second loss without a fight. However, the Chants fought back and made it a two-point game with a flurry of free throws and a 3-point play by Kierre Greenwood, who played well in limited minutes due to foul trouble. I think Coastal wins that game if he isn't saddled with foul trouble the entire game.
The Chants had two chances to tie. I thought Logan Johnson, even though he was open, forced a shot with over a minute left that would have tied the game at 64-all. It was early in the shot clock and I'm not sure he's the player you want taking an off-balance 16-footer in that scenario. I thought they should have gone inside to Joseph Harris or Chad Gray. I asked coach Cliff Ellis about this after the game, and while he refused to criticize the shot selection, you didn't get the feeling he was pleased with it either - even if Johnson had an open look.
In the final 30 seconds of the game, Greenwood had an open look at the would-be-tying 3-pointer but it caught the back rim. That play was designed to go to Mario Edwards, but he was covered, so Greenwood took the open look. He's been hitting 3s lately, so I thought that was a great shot. It just didn't fall.
That was the story of the game. Coastal played well and fought hard but just couldn't get the breaks down the stretch. That's going to happen on the road in conference play. I am willing to bet on that.
The Chants will remain atop the standings no matter what happens today between second-place Radford and UNC Asheville, but they could see their advantage dwindle to just one game. It's still an advantage, but it's a much more precarious one than Coastal took into their bout with the Eagles. The Highlanders will have certainly gained a mental boost knowing that Coastal lost, and only time will tell if Coastal can rebound from this loss as well as it did after the one to Radford.
I thought Coastal did what it should Saturday. The Chants sagged in man to man and forced Winthrop, the Big South's worst shooting team, to hit shots. That didn't happen regularly for the first 30 minutes, but the Eagles found their groove for a large portion of the final 10. Was it luck? Maybe, but understand that Winthrop plays so much better in its own building than it does anywhere else.
There is a certain energy and aura that you don't get at any other venue in the league. It's the conference's biggest stage, and more often than not, Winthrop plays up to that level. Coastal could have never known that the Eagles would suddenly get hot, especially when you consider the dreadful shooting performance they put on at Kimbel Arena earlier this year.
The Chants did an amazing job of hitting free throws down the stretch just to keep the game close. Once Winthrop went up 64-55, Coastal could have easily folded and taken their second loss without a fight. However, the Chants fought back and made it a two-point game with a flurry of free throws and a 3-point play by Kierre Greenwood, who played well in limited minutes due to foul trouble. I think Coastal wins that game if he isn't saddled with foul trouble the entire game.
The Chants had two chances to tie. I thought Logan Johnson, even though he was open, forced a shot with over a minute left that would have tied the game at 64-all. It was early in the shot clock and I'm not sure he's the player you want taking an off-balance 16-footer in that scenario. I thought they should have gone inside to Joseph Harris or Chad Gray. I asked coach Cliff Ellis about this after the game, and while he refused to criticize the shot selection, you didn't get the feeling he was pleased with it either - even if Johnson had an open look.
In the final 30 seconds of the game, Greenwood had an open look at the would-be-tying 3-pointer but it caught the back rim. That play was designed to go to Mario Edwards, but he was covered, so Greenwood took the open look. He's been hitting 3s lately, so I thought that was a great shot. It just didn't fall.
That was the story of the game. Coastal played well and fought hard but just couldn't get the breaks down the stretch. That's going to happen on the road in conference play. I am willing to bet on that.
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