BROWN’S motivation a boon for Bradley.
BRADLEY 80, VALPARAISO 66
ST. LOUIS — Bradley guard Darrell Brown was not happy with his selection to the Missouri Valley Conference all-league second team earlier in week.
He displayed his displeasure in a big way on Sunday.
Brown scored 21 points and Elijah Childs added 17 to lead fourth-seeded Bradley to its 10th NCAA Tournament with an 80-66 victory over seventh-seeded Valparaiso in the MVC championship game.
Ja’Shon Henry scored 16 points for the Braves, Nate Kennell chipped in with 14 points and Ville Tahvanainen added 10.
Javon Freeman-Liberty paced Valparaiso with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Bradley (23-11) claimed its fourth MVC title and became the ninth team in history to defend its tournament crown
Brown, who came into the contest averaging 15.3 points per game, was certain he deserved first-team honors.
The perceived snub bothered him.
Bradley Coach Brian Wardle made sure to keep Brown properly motivated. He jokingly called Brown, “second-team,” at every opportunity during the days leading up to the contest.
“In the hotel he kept calling me that,” Brown said. “I thought it was funny. But, I’m a self-driven person. He really didn’t have to do that. I felt disrespected. So, I took upon myself to prove everybody wrong.”
Wardle’s actions paid off. “He came in with a chip on his shoulder and he proved it,” Wardle said. “There’s nothing better than when you see true hard work pay off. He let everyone see what he was made of — it was great.”
Brown hit on six of 14 shots including a 4 of 6 effort from three-point range. He kick-started a 38-18 run over the final 12 minutes and 2 seconds with a jumper that the game 49-all. His three-pointer later in the run pushed the lead to 62-52. He also added nine assists.
“He can carry us when he gets hot like that,” Childs said.
Valparaiso (19-16) led 48-42 before the Braves took charge,
BIG SOUTH WINTHROP 76, HAMPTON 68
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 victory over fifth-seeded Hampton in the Big South Conference championship game.
It is Winthrop’s 11th tournament appearance — all since 1999 — but only the Eagles second in the past 10
seasons.
Winthrop (23-10) took a 2-0 lead and then trailed for the next 26 minutes, falling as far behind as 15 points in the first half.
With Hampton (15-18) up 39-32 with 16 minutes to go, Burns took over. He scored 12 of Winthrop’s next 21 points on a combination of soft hooks and power spin moves.
His bucket with 7:47 left put the Eagles up 53-46. Hampton wouldn’t close within a possession the rest of the way.
Hampton’s Jermaine Marrow, the nation’s third leading scorer at 25 points a game, was held to 18 points.
Ben Stanley added 15 points for the Pirates. Stanley and Greg Heckstall, who had 16 rebounds, also played all 40 minutes for Hampton, who appeared to tire toward the end of the game.
ATLANTIC SUN LIBERTY 73, LIPSCOMB 57
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Caleb Homesley scored 16 points and Liberty took command with a long first-half run and won its second consecutive Athlantic Sun championship defeating Lipscomb, earning the Flames an automatic NCAA Tournament bid
Elijah Cuffee added 16 points and Darius McGhee had 13 as the Flames (30-4) set a school record for victories in a season. They also avenged a 77-71 loss to finish the regular season.
Ahsan Asadullah scored 22 and grabbed nine rebounds despite foul trouble for the Bisons (16-16) and Andrew Fleming scored 15. It was Lipscomb’s third consecutive championship appearance and second consecutive loss to Liberty.