Winthrop upsets High Point in Big South Tournament
By Joe Nardone
Dec 3, 2013; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Winthrop Eagles guard Andre Smith (11) goes after a loose ball during the first half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
The Big South Tournament is underway. Which is a neat thing and all. However, it just became even neater, as it gave us one of our first mad moments of the month of March. That’s thanks to the Winthrop Eagles upsetting the High Point Panthers.
To add even more madness to the moment, it took a very late Winthrop basket to send the regular season champions home early.
Winthrop junior, Andre Smith, hit that three-pointer with .5 seconds left in the game. I am not sure how to make a play on onions with Smith (Smith’N’Onions?), but he definitely made a lot of High Point players tear up as if they were cutting them.
Oddly enough, High Point becomes the first team in the nation to earn an automatic bid to a postseason tournament. Unfortunately for them, however, it is to the NIT, not the NCAA Tournament.
Winthrop’s quest to become Cinderella isn’t over yet. Beating High Point is a great feather in their hat, but it doesn’t give them that automatic birth that all one-bid league teams are hoping to earn.
Next up for Winthrop in the Big South Tournament, the UNCA Ashville Bulldogs in a game tomorrow because basketball never sleeps.