#1 Winthrop Wins 2021 Hercules Tires Men's Basketball Championship
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- D.J. Burns Jr. scored 22 points on 11-12 field goals for a Big South Finals record 91.7 field goal percentage, and the No. 1-seeded Winthrop Eagles shot a Tournament-game record 79.2 percent from the field in the second half to defeat No. 3 seed Campbell, 80-53, and win the 2021 Hercules Tires Men's Basketball Championship Sunday afternoon in Rock Hill, S.C. Winthrop is the first back-to-back Big South Champion since 2014-2015, has won its 13th conference tournament and earns its 12th berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles' 62.7 field goal percentage for the game established a Big South Finals record, and became the first champion to score at least 80 points in all three Tournament games since 2012.
Burns was voted to the All-Tournament Team and was joined by teammate and MVP
Chandler Vaudrin as well as
Charles Falden. Campbell's
Jordan Whitfield and
Ricky Clemons were also voted to the All-Tournament team.
Kyle Zunic (13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) and Vaudrin (8 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal) were also key contributors for the Eagles. Whitfield led the Camels with 18 points, while Clemons scored 10 and
Joshua Lusane had nine points and five rebounds.
Ricky Clemons opened the scoring in the game with a little jumper in the lane. The Eagles responded as Charles Falden drilled a three after a couple of ball fakes. Following a Campbell miss, Kyle Zunic dropped in a three for an early 6-2 lead. With the game tied 10-10 with 14:46 left the Eagles scored six straight points and a few minutes later pushed the lead to eight points on a D.J. Burns Jr. jumper. Jordan Whitfield and Clemons hit jumpers to cut the deficit in half with 6:29 to play in the half. The Eagles pushed their lead to eight points again after Russell Jones Jr. scored off the drive. The Camels answered with an 8-2 run as Whitfield scored four of the points including a layup off a steal as he jumped a passing lane in the back court and scored to make it a two point game. It was a two point game with 1:23 left but the Eagles scored the final four points for a 32-26 lead t the break as all four points came off jumpers by Burns Jr. Winthrop shot 48 percent in the half while Campbell shot 37 percent.
Winthrop opened the second half on a 12-5 run over the first five minutes for a 44-31 lead. Michael Anumba scored inside off a feed from Zunic to get it started. Chandler Vaudrin drove across the lane and finished a layup with his left hand to put the Eagles up nine and then Burns Jr. hit a jumper for the first double-figure lead of the game. The lead grew to 16 points after Burns Jr. spun off his defender on the baseline and finished with a dunk.