Winthrop: 2021 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- — D.J. Burns scored 22 points and Winthrop took off in the second half to a 80-53 victory over Campbell on Sunday for its second straight Big South tournament championship and automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

Burns finished the first half with consecutive baskets for a six-point lead and the Eagles (23-1) made their first eight shots of the second half in running away from Campbell for their 13th championship in 17 title-game appearances. They will be making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance.

By the time the top-seeded Eagles missed a shot in the second half they led 36-21. The blazing shooting continued as the lead reached a high of 31 and they eased to their seventh straight win during a season when they had a 21-game win streak before a two-point loss to UNC Asheville. They are 43-4 in their last 47 games.

Burns, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, forward finished 11 of 12 from the floor with the Eagles shooting 79% in the second half and 63% overall. Kyle Zunic added 13 points with 3-pointers. Chandler Vaudrin, who has three triple-doubles this season, had 10 rebounds and six assists to go with eight points.

Winthrop won the tournament title last year only to see their NCAA Tournament bid dissolve with the COVID-19 crisis.

"Oh man, it's so great to be back here, knowing the opportunity we had last year and unfortunately events took it away from us," said Burns, who transferred from Tennessee two years ago. "It feels good to back here and have a second shot to do it again.

"We work as hard or harder than anybody in the country and we're gonna to go out and go play our game, play our style to speed them up or slowing down if you need to. We're all gonna do whatever it takes to win. That's a part of our culture that the coaches instilled in us from Day One."

Third-seeded Campbell (17-10) came in on a nine-game win streak and looking for its first NCAA appearance in 29 years. Though the Camels lost a two-game series at Winthrop during the regular season, one of those losses came by just a point. But this time, they led only once — at 2-0.

Jordan Whitfield scored 18 points and Ricky Clemons 10 for Campbell.

Winthrop won its three tournament games by an average of nearly 26 points.

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Winthrop: 2019-20 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- It took a freshman to bring Winthrop back to where it almost always used to go -- the NCAA Tournament.

DJ Burns scored 16 points, 12 of them in the second half, to lead the second-seeded Eagles to a 76-68 win over fifth-seeded Hampton on Sunday in the Big South Conference championship game.

Winthrop is off to its 11th NCAA Tournament, but just the fourth for the Eagles (24-10) since 2007, when coach Gregg Marshall set the bar for small conference excellence, winning the Big South seven times in nine seasons before heading to Wichita State.

"You walk in that gym every day and you look up and those banners just stare at you," said Eagles coach Pat Kelsey, who made his second Big Dance in his eighth season.

Kelsey blew a kiss to his family as the buzzer sounded and students, let in free at the university president's declaration on Twitter, stormed the court. The No. 2 seed Eagles got to play at home after Hampton (15-19) beat top seed Radford in the semifinals.

Hunter Hale threw the ball almost into the rafters as the students swarmed. The senior transferred to Winthrop after two seasons at Division II Grand Valley State in Michigan. His 10 points included a soft jumper with the shot clock winding down that put Winthrop up seven with 1:08 to go.

The freshman Burns flipped a game that Hampton appeared might run away with. The Pirates led by as many as 15 in the first half and were up 39-32 with 16 minutes to go,

Burns scored 12 of Winthrop's next 21 points on a combination of soft hooks and power spin moves as Hampton gambled by not double teaming him.

"People have doubled and had some success. People have doubled and gotten burned, pun intended," Kelsey said.

Hampton's Jermaine Marrow, the nation's third leading scorer at 25 points a game, was held to 18 points. The senior played all but three minutes over the Pirates three tournament games and scored 32 in a quarterfinal win over Gardner-Webb and 36 in the semifinal win over Radford.

Ben Stanley added 15 points for the Pirates. Stanley and Greg Heckstall, who had 16 rebounds, also played all 40 minutes for Hampton.

"I'll never second guess myself that I played my seniors and my main players the minutes that I did. It's about getting to this moment. If I didn't do it, we probably wouldn't be here," Hampton coach Ed Joyner said.

BIG PICTURE

Hampton: The Pirates needed a huge game from Marrow, who went 6 for 11 on 3-pointers in the semifinal win, and didn't quite get it. The senior was 5 of 19 from the field, 1 of 10 on 3-pointers. Still, it was a run like few have seen in the Big South for the Pirates in their second season in the league.

Winthrop: The Eagles needed balance and got it. Nine of the 10 players who got on the court scored and four ended up in double figures.

HAPPY TO BE THERE

Kelsey wouldn't say what seed he thought Winthrop should be in the NCAA Tournament. He just can't wait to get there.

"You walk in the gym and there are going to be (four) games that day so the air is frigid. There's blue carpet all over the back hallways. And everybody has a lanyard on like `Wayne's World," Kelsey said. "It's just awesome."

AGONY OF DEFEAT

Joyner and Marrow cried as they talked to reporters after the game. Marrow is from Newport News, Virginia, and his coach said he was told not to go to nearby Hampton.

Marrow leaves as the Pirates top all-time scorer (2,680) and second in school history in assists (633).

Talking through his tears, Joyner said Marrow was as close to him as his sons.

"I put everything in him to make sure this young man survived and made it out. This young man is 20 hours from graduating or less. He's going to have an opportunity to play basketball and do something for himself, his family, his son he just had," Joyner said.

Marrow buried his face in his hoodie. "This man gave me an opportunity He believed in me from day one. This school believed in me. I'll love him for that forever."

UP NEXT

Hampton: The season is likely over and the Pirates will need to figure out how to replace Marrow.

Winthrop: There's a Selection Sunday party in Rock Hill next Sunday, where the Eagles could sneak as high as a 15 seed.

Winthrop: 2016-17 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Winthrop earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2010, beating Campbell 76-59 Sunday in the Big South Conference Tournament championship game behind Keon Johnson's 26 points.

The top-seeded Eagles (26-6) scored on the first possession of the game and never trailed. Winthrop won on its home court and snapped its streak of three straight losses in the conference title final.

Winthrop went to the NCAA Tournament in nine seasons from 1999-2010. The Eagles' lone win came in 2007 against Notre Dame.

After two straight 31-point games, the 5-foot-7 Johnson won the MVP award for the tournament. The senior opened the second half with back-to-back 3s, and scored 15 of Winthrop's first 19 points in the second half.

Xavier Cooks had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Winthrop and Rod Perkins scored all 15 of his points in the first half.

Chris Clemons, who scored 51 points Thursday for Campbell (17-17) in a quarterfinal win over second-seeded UNC Asheville and got 33 in the semifinals against Radford, had 29. The 5-foot-9 sophomore scored 16 straight points for the seventh-seeded Camels in the second half.

Campbell's only appearance in the NCAA Tournament came in 1992, when it lost to eventual champion Duke.

The Eagles took a quick 12-2 lead as Campbell missed seven of its first eight shots. The Camels rallied to tie it at 21, but Winthrop responded with a 9-0 run.

Once Johnson hit his first 3 of the second half, the Eagles led by double digits the rest of the way.

Winthrop lost to Coastal Carolina in the 2014 and 2015 finals and UNC Asheville last season.

BIG PICTURE

Winthrop: This is the Eagles' first NCAA appearance under fifth-year coach Pat Kelsey. ... The Eagles are now 6-0 in Big South finals as the top seed.

UP NEXT

Winthrop awaits seeding for the NCAA Tournament. The 68-team bracket will be revealed Sunday, March 12.