No. 1 South Coastal Carolina Wins VisitMyrtleBeach.com Men's Basketball Championship - Mar 10, 2014

Junior guards Warren Gillis (6'3''-G) and Josh Cameron (6'1''-G) combined for 41 points, leading No. 1 South seed and host team Coastal Carolina to a 76-61 victory over No. 4 South seed Winthrop in the 2014 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men's Basketball Championship title game, Sunday afternoon at The HTC Center.

Coastal Carolina (21-12) led nearly from start to finish while capturing its third Big South Championship title overall and first since 1991. The Chanticleers shot 58.3 percent (28-of-48) for the contest, helping them avenge two regular-season defeats to Winthrop (20-13) in front of a boisterous home crowd.

Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis will now become the 10th coach in NCAA history to advance four different programs to the NCAA Tournament (also South Alabama, Clemson and Auburn). Coastal Carolina also becomes the first one-site host of the Conference Tournament to win the title since Winthrop in 1988.

Coastal Carolina got major contributions from all five of its starters, paced by Tournament MVP Gillis, who scored a game-high 22 points and tied his career high with seven assists. Backcourt mate Cameron finished with 19 points, wrapping up the tournament with a team-high 18.7 ppg and earning a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Badou Diagne (6'7''-F) chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds, Elijah Wilson (6'4''-G) scored all 12 of his points after halftime and El Hadji Ndieguene pulled down a game-high 10 boards for the Chanticleers.

The Eagles' magical run of three tournament victories in four days fell one game short of the title, as Winthrop lost for just the second time in 12 Big South Championship title game appearances all-time. The Eagles shot just 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the floor and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from three-point range.

Redshirt junior Keon Moore (6'5''-G), who scored a team-high 19 points on Sunday and averaged 19.0 ppg during the Eagles' four tournament tilts, represented Winthrop on the All-Tournament team. He was joined in double digits in the title game by teammate Joab Jerome (13 points).

The remainder of the All-Tournament team consisted of UNC Asheville redshirt senior center D.J. Cunningham (6'10''-C) and Gardner-Webb sophomore forward Jerome Hill (6'5''-F).

Coastal Carolina scored eight straight points early in the second half, bolstering its lead to 15 (42-27) on Cameron's steal and layup with 17:20 to play.

The Chanticleer advantage reached 18 points (57-39) with 9:41 to play, when Wilson's layup punctuated a 7-0 burst.

Back-to-back triples by Moore and Andre Smith sparked an 8-0 Winthrop run, trimming the Eagles' deficit to 61-52 at the 4:38 mark.

That's as close as Winthrop would get, as Coastal Carolina closed out its most comfortable win of the tournament. The Chanticleers needed double overtime to post a 73-68 quarterfinal victory over Charleston Southern on Friday before holding off VMI by a 66-62 count in Saturday's semifinal tilt.

Coastal Carolina made five of its first six field goal attempts, racing out to a quick 12-6 advantage to start the matinee.

Winthrop's only lead came at the 11:20 mark of the opening half, when Smith's three-pointer in transition made it 17-16 in favor of the Eagles. It was the junior guard's first hoop since his dramatic game-winning triple at the buzzer of Friday's 62-60 quarterfinal win over High Point.

After Smith's trifecta, Winthrop did not make another field goal for 7:03. During that span, Coastal Carolina went on a 12-0 run. Cameron scored seven points during the surge, including a mid-range jumper that gave the Chanticleers a 28-18 edge 5:09 before halftime.

Winthrop got back within four (28-24) on Tevin Prescott's dunk at 2:24, before the Chanticleers tallied the last six points of the half. Back-to-back Gillis layups sent the home team to halftime with a 34-24 lead.

Winthrop Head Coach Pat Kelsey
'I want to congratulate Coastal Carolina on the championship and the opportunity to represent the conference in the tournament. Coach (Cliff) Ellis does a phenomenal job and it's just a tip of the cap to them for how they played today. I want to thank the Big South for hosting unbelievable event. They ran this tournament at a high level and the organization and attention to detail was executed really well. Thank you also to the city of Myrtle Beach for hosting us and giving us a great college atmosphere today.'

'I'm really proud of our team. The last couple of days have been unbelievable and I just want to thank the guys for letting me be a part of it and taking me on the ride. I thought the story of the game came in the first four minutes when the tone was set. Coastal came out and jumped on us, hit us in the mouth and I never felt that we fully recovered or made that run to make them nervous. Had a shot late when it was 10 points and had an open look, but went in and out, and they came down and made a shot. They answered every little run that we made and it's a credit to their kids' resolve and toughness.'

'[The fans and students] are a big part of what we've built here in a very short amount of time. We got here two years ago and had a vision of what we wanted to get this program back to, and it's coming. A big part of what we're doing and building is in our alumni, student body and fan base. Just want to let them know how much we need them and appreciate them.'

Coastal Carolina Head Coach Cliff Ellis
'I want to congratulate Winthrop for a heck of a year. Pat (Kelsey) has done a great job and that team is a good basketball team. Hopefully they'll get into the postseason of some type. I don't think anybody saw this coming, but the mettle that this team has is very special. They didn't play, the competed out there. I'm as proud of this team as any team I have had as a coach. We're glad to be known as champions.'

'Early on this season, it was a brutal schedule. We played some teams that were extremely tough, but we kept battling. The game that turned it around for me this year was Gardner-Webb on the road. We came in and won that game on the road convincingly after getting shellacked by Charleston Southern earlier that week and I knew that moment was a turning point. Winning on the road leads to championships and we won five out of eight road games in the conference. This was the best game that we've played at home in the conference all year and it was special.'

'Teams go out and do what they do in the tournament. We're not going to know who we're going to play until Sunday and it's going to be one system after another. Our plans this week are to get some rest. I want the guys to savor the moment and be thankful for it. We're on spring break right now, so I'll give the guys some time off and then come back at the end of the week and get ready to play. It's another season and we don't want to be satisfied with just getting there. Hopefully my experience will come through and that we can match up, go out and show what we are made of. Our goal is to be the best that we can be in 40 minutes of time.'

Courtesy of BSC

Big South Conf. Tournament Final: Coastal Carolina - Winthrop 76-61
Big South Conf. Tournament Semifinals:
Coastal Carolina - VMI 66-62
Winthrop - UNC Asheville 80-79

All-Big South Conf. 1st Team 2014

Glasgow

Rowsey

Green

Brown

Covington