A busy Sunday of conference tournament championships started in the Big South, where regular-season champion High Point defeated Winthrop, 81-69, to secure the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the Atlantic Sun, Lipscomb locked up its first bid to the Big Dance since 2018, holding off a second-half rally to beat second-seeded North Alabama 76-65. Then Drake beat Bradley, 63-48, to earn its third consecutive Missouri Valley Tournament championship. Advertisement High Point, which moved to Division I from Division II in 1998-99, erased a 15-point second-half deficit against Winthrop to cut down the nets in a major redemption story after losing in the Big South tournament semifinals on their home floor as the No. 1 seed last year. This time, the Panthers got it done on a neutral court in Johnson City, Tenn.
What was most impressive about the Panthers’ comeback and victory was how they managed to pull it off. Down 48-33 early in the second half, second-year coach Alan Huss turned to his backups, sitting all five starters on the bench. The reserves responded immediately. Guard Bobby Pettiford banked in a 3-pointer to spark a huge run, and the substitutes were able to finish the job. Huss smartly never went back to his starters, riding the hot hands to the championship. Pettiford, who won a national championship with Kansas in 2022, and forward Terry Anderson were particularly brilliant in the second half. Both repeatedly found their way to the bucket for tough finishes, sparking the huge comeback. High Point will be a dark horse to make a Sweet 16 run as a double-digit seed. At 29-5 overall with a top-25 offense, per KenPom, these Panthers can score with anyone. The dominance of their depth was on full display Sunday, and Huss’ group is fully capable of pulling an upset or two in the Big Dance.
In Lipscomb’s matchup against North Alabama, four Bison scored 14 points or more, led by Joe Anderson’s 23. He also snagged five rebounds, handed out four assists and blocked three shots while ASUN Player of the Year Jacob Ognacevic chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds. Lipscomb, which averages nearly 28 3-point attempts per game, drained 12 in the win. The Bison built as much as an 11-point lead in the first half before North Alabama took its first lead of the game with 14:14 to play. From there the teams traded the advantage 10 times and tied the game five times, all in the second half. But the Lions went cold late, not scoring a field goal in the last 2:57, to send the Bison dancing. Over in St. Louis, it may be a new season, and Drake may have a new coach with an entirely new roster. But at Arch Madness, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Drake’s victory over Bradley on Sunday afternoon was engineered by Ben McCollum, the highly regarded newcomer coach from Division II Northwest Missouri State, and Bennett Stirtz, the Player of the Year in the Missouri Valley conference. McCollum was a legend at the lower level, winning four national championships, and he brought Stirtz and three other starters with him from NW Missouri. That core helped lay the foundation for such a massively successful season, and Stirtz shined brightly on the biggest stage yet. He poured in 24 points to go with four rebounds and four assists, completely controlling the tenor of the game from the point guard spot. This story will be updated. Required reading
