The Campbell Fighting Camels are seeking their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992 as they face Winthrop in the Big South basketball title game.
The seventh-seeded Campbell Fighting Camels will meet the top-seeded Winthrop Eagles in the Big South Conference Tournament championship game at Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina. No matter which team wins the conference tournament championship, it will be that program’s first tournament crown in over five years.
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Campbell (17-16) is in the Big South tournament final for the first time since 1994. Campbell defeated 6th-seeded Radford 66-50 on Friday night to earn a berth in the championship game. The Camels lone Big South tournament title came back in 1992.
“I’m really proud of the team, I thought they played really well,” Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan said. “Just an incredible amount of poise out there, calmness and an understanding of how we could win the game. That’s not easy to do if you’re not a very experienced team in a playoff atmosphere. I’m proud of our defensive effort. We really controlled it. To win a game by 16 and go 6-for-23 from 3, that means you must have played some pretty good defense.”
Winthrop (25-6) is in the Big South championship game for the fourth straight season. Winthrop beat sixth-seeded Gardner-Webb in the other semifinal game, 80-77, in overtime on Friday. The Eagles are 10-4 all-time in Big South championship games.
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The championship game will feature two of the most dynamic scoring guards under 6’0″ in Campbell’s Chris Clemons and Winthrop’s Keon Johnson.
Clemons is averaging 37 points in three Big South tournament games. The 5’9″ sophomore scored 33 points on 11-of-20 shooting against Radford which came one day after setting a school and conference record by tossing in 51 points in a 81-79 victory over UNC-Asheville. He has made 39-of-66 shots (59.0 percent) in the tournament, including 14-of-28 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.
Clemons has scored in double-figures in all 31 games he has appeared in. Clemons has 24 games of 20 or more points this season. Overall, he is averaging 24.1 points a game as he is shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 34.9 percent on three-pointers.
Johnson poured in a game-high 31 points in the Eagles’ semifinal win. The 5’7″ senior has scored 27 points in each of his tournament games, which includes back-to-back 31 point efforts. He has tallied double-figures in 12 straight games. Johnson, who shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc, has made 13-of-28 three-pointers during tournament play.
Campbell has won four straight games. The Camels also have tournament wins over UNC Asheville and Presbyterian.
Campbell is averaging 71.5 points a game and is surrendering 70.2 a game. The Camels have held opponents under 63 points in three of their last four games. They have also topped 80 points in two games during the four-game stretch. Junior forward Shane Whitfield is the only other Fighting Camel averaging double-figures (11.3 points per game). Three of Campbell’s wins have come against non-D-I opponents.
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A win will give Winthrop will coach Pat Kelsey his best season of his five-season tenure with the Eagles. The Eagles are 101-58 under Kelsey. Winthrop has shared the Big South regular-season crown in each of the past two years.
Winthrop likes to push the pace and shoot threes. The Eagles, who average 79.1 points a game, have topped the 80-point mark in six consecutive games. Five Eagles have made at least 34 three-pointers this year. Xavier Cooks is the only other player who averages double-figures on the season (15.1). Winthrop is allowing 70.5 points a game.
Winthrop has won three straight games over Campbell. The Eagles won the first matchup of the season, 72-63, and then took the second game, 76-62. Johnson knocked down 14-of-20 shots from the field and scored 29 points in the team’s last game. Johnson has outscored Clemons 61-40 in head-to-head match-ups this season.
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Campbell leads the all-time series 19-15 and is 7-8 at Winthrop Coliseum. Game time is set for 1 p.m. ET on March 5. The game will be televised by ESPN and can be streamed live on Watch ESPN.