Winthrop won its fourth straight Big South crown and NCAA Tournament bid with a 70-48 victory over High Point Saturday night in the 2002 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men's Basketball Championship Game at the Roanoke Civic Center.
The Panthers fought for the title before the eyes of a national television audience watching on ESPN2.

High Point's first-ever Big South Tournament appearance was a successful one by any stretch of the imagination. The Panthers knocked off two of the league's three highest-ranked teams, and became the first No. 7-seed in the history of the tournament to advance to the finals.

Senior Jay Wallace and freshman Joe Knight were each named to the All-Tournament Team.

Ron Barrow led the Panthers with 12 points and eight rebounds. Greg Lewis, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, led Winthrop with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

A spirited first half began with a Wallace jumper to get the Panthers on the board first. The teams battled back and forth, but Winthrop put together an 11-0 run in the middle of the period to grab a 20-10 lead. The Panthers cut it within five at 26-21 on two Dustin Van Weerdhuizen free throws with 3:22 to play before halftime, but Winthrop closed the half with a 7-0 spurt to take a 34-21 edge to the locker room.

HPU, which shot just 2-of-19 from three-point range, wasn't able to get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

The Panthers finish their 2001-02 campaign at 11-19, and provided some thrilling moments for a furious finish.