Box Score by Benny Benton
BRISTOL, Tenn. – The ball hit off the rim, bounced straight up and back down, then rattled around for several moments before falling in for a 3-pointer, one of three on the day for King forward Hunter LeVeau.
It was that kind of afternoon for both the Tornado and Barton in the 2016 Conference Carolinas Tournament championship game on Sunday.
No. 1 seed King drained 14 3-pointers, out-rebounded Barton by a whopping 49 to 27 margin and forced the Bulldogs into 15 turnovers in claiming a dominating 85-53 victory before the home faithful at the Student Center Complex.
The crown was the first-ever for King in the tournament, and denied Barton's its fourth in the past decade.
Tournament MVP C.J. Good scored a game-high 19 points to lead King (25-6), while LeVeau added 18 and Mikquell Jackson chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore guard Danny Shand paced Barton (20-11) for the second straight day with 13 points and was named to the all-tournament team. He was joined on the squad by senior Dominique Byrd, who followed up Saturday's double-double with seven points and four rebounds in the title game.
R.J. Claypool scored 10 points and collected a team-high five rebounds in Sunday's loss for the Bulldogs.
Barton shot 37 percent from the field (21 of 57), including just 4-of-24 from 3-point range (17 percent).
King, meanwhile, shot 45 percent from 3-point range (14 of 31) and 44 percent overall (30 of 67). The Tornado was also a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
Barton's 53 points scored were the fewest in a game by the Bulldogs since they managed just 51 against NCAA Division I opponent Winthrop University on December 12, 2009.
Barton got off to the kind of start it wanted. The Bulldogs made six of their first 11 shots from the field – including 3-of-4 from 3-point range – to hold the lead through the game's first six minutes.
When Shand drove for a difficult layup and was fouled on the play, his free throw with 13:23 left in the first period gave Barton its biggest lead of the game at 16-10.
But a key sequence with King trailing 18-14 set the tone for the rest of the game. The Tornado grabbed two offensive rebounds on the same possession, and LeVeau, a first-team all-conference honoree, rewarded his teammates effort with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one.
On King's next possession, the Tornado claimed two more offensive boards, and LeVeau turned them into another 3-pointer that put KU into the lead for the first time in the game, 22-20.
Claypool answered with a jumper to tie the game at 20-all, and the two sides traded baskets to match totals at 22-all. But Good made a jumper, Forrest Stuart drained a 3-pointer and Drew Stanifer added a layup to make up a 7-0 run for King.
Jake Veasley interrupted the Tornado run with a jumper, but Derrick Pope sank consecutive 3-pointers to put King up double-digits for the first time, 35-24.
With momentum and a partisan crowd of more than 700 on its side, King turned up its full-court pressure after each made basket, forcing the Bulldogs into more mistakes leading to even more points.
Barton committed 12 of its 15 turnovers in the first period, leading directly to 14 points.
The Bulldogs closed within nine on a jumper by Shand with 3:29 left in the half, but a 3-pointer by Jackson started a 10-0 run for King to close out the half, giving the Tornado a 47-28 advantage at the break.
Byrd made two free throws on Barton's first possession of the second half, but Good drilled a 3-pointer on the next King possession to put the Tornado up 20 and the rout was on.
Barton will now await word from the NCAA selection committee Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. if its body of work for the season was enough for a Southeast Regional bid.
