Duncomb and Winthrop defy the odds in quarterfinal victory

 

Winthrop center Logan Duncomb booked another double-double in Friday's quarterfinal win. (Photo:  Big South Conference)

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The comparison in the press room was made to Wilt Chamberlain. Given the circumstances, maybe a Willis Reed mention would be more apt.

Either way, Winthrop center and Big South Player of the Year Logan Duncomb powered through the pain of a foot injury and almost seemingly carried his team to victory.

Winthrop will again make it to semifinal Saturday in Johnson City, and the 20-point, 11-rebound performance from Duncomb – in 16 minutes! – will go down as one of the most memorable performances in this tournament’s history, especially given that the last time anyone saw the Eagles less than a week ago, Duncomb was in a boot and pushing himself along on a scooter.

“I definitely wanted to come back,” Duncomb said. “I’ve been waiting – I took a shot today to try to get through it. I really wanted to get out here and have a good finish to the season. I don’t think it would be really complete unless we made it to March Madness, because we missed out on it last year. I was there in the championship game, and that really, really sucked. It really wouldn’t be finished for me unless we get to the tournament.”

Duncomb’s story is well-chronicled and almost missed anything even close to this type of ending. The former Indiana and Xavier big man walked away from the game after his stint with the Musketeers before landing in Rock Hill. The stopover in the Palmetto State led to a final season in which Duncomb logged 13 double-doubles – including Friday – and was the runaway pick for the best player in the Big South.

“I think I’ve grown a lot since my time at Xavier. That was a challenging time for me,” Duncomb said. “I used that time (after the departure) to grow as a person and as a basketball player, and to figure myself out. During that time, I just really, truly fell in love with the game. I wanted nothing more than to be playing basketball. When I looked out there and saw we were down, I was just like, ‘I can’t go out like that.’ It just would have killed me.”

Nobody understands the – let’s just call it a renaissance – of the Eagle big man better than his coach, Mark Prosser.

“What Logan is doing is unique,” Prosser said. “With the future he has, our student-athletes’ health and future will always be at the forefront of everything we do. I think it would be easy not to do what he just did, and nobody would blame him for it. Being a part of his career – he’s done this. We’ve been a satellite part of his couple years at Winthrop, and it’s what we want for our student-athletes.”

“We have this thing, if you come to our arena, that right by the locker room, it says ‘Culture of Joy’ and – you know, it sounds great. Sometimes it’s difficult. We want our kids to find the joy of playing the game and play because they love it. What he’s doing is special, and we have a lot of guys that have – whether it’s a special thing they’re doing right now or had a very special journey to this point to get together, where they’re fighting, clawing, and playing for one another – it’s just unique. They’re taking us on an unbelievable ride, and we’d like to keep it going for a little while.”

Seventh-seeded Charleston Southern was ready for Duncomb, both out of familiarity and respect. The Bucs and Eagles faced off just eight days ago in North Charleston, in the game in which Duncomb got hurt.

“Our game plan stayed the same,” Charleston Southern coach Saah Nimley said. “We had a game plan for when he was on the court and a game plan for when he was off the court. We just stuck true to that today. He’s a good player. He’s hard to deal with in the middle of the floor, because you can’t send a double-team.”

“He was able to get some things. They posted him up in the middle over and over because they knew we were going to bring that double. Good coaching by them and a really good player. I thought we executed (the plan) great, to be honest with you. They shot 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from three. I thought we had a heck of a game defensively, but they got 15 offensive rebounds and shot 30 free throws.”

Duncomb’s resilience embodies that of his program. The Eagles trailed by seven points late in the contest and closed on a 12-0 run over the final 28 seconds of the game to get the 86-81 win.

“That’s something we’ve been doing all year,” Duncomb said. “This team has just done a great job of not blinking when adversity hits. When a team goes on a run, we just hit them right back. I feel like no one on our team ever gets worried. No one ever gets nervous, thinking that we’re out of it. It’s just tunnel vision. Personally, I was never worried for our team, just because I know that’s what we do.”

Prosser immediately offered a joking retort.

“I was kind of worried there for a little while,” Prosser said with a laugh.

Now that the Eagles can take a bit of a breath, they can get back to whatever Saturday brings.

“At Winthrop, you expect to keep playing,” Prosser said. “You come up here expecting to play three games in three days. We have several that were in that locker room last year, and obviously, the final locker room was not something we enjoyed very much.”

The Eagles will await either third-seeded Radford or sixth-seeded Presbyterian in a 2:30 (Eastern) start Saturday afternoon. Winthrop – and its star – expect number 51 to be out there in a white jersey.

“I’m going to rest and ice (my foot) and do whatever my trainer tells me,” Duncomb said. “I can’t get injured more. It’s just whether I can play through the pain.”