Rock Hill, SC -- Craig Bradshaw scored 16 points and James Shuler added 14, as Winthrop captured the Big South Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 68-46 victory over Charleston Southern.

Winthrop (27-5) won its 18th straight game and earned the Big South crown for the sixth time. The top-seeded Eagles, who won four straight Big South tourney titles from 1999-2002, will head to their fifth NCAA Tournament. They have yet to win a game there, with their last visit ending in an 84-37 loss to Duke in the first round of the 2002 tournament.

Torrell Martin contributed 13 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, while Phillip Williams chipped in 11 points. Winthrop made 11-of-22 three-point tries, with Williams, Martin and Bradshaw hitting three apiece.

Charleston Southern (13-17), the Big South's seventh seed, upset Liberty and High Point to reach the championship game. The Buccaneers were trying for their first tournament title since 1997.

Kurtis Rice scored 17 points and Terrell Brown added 14 for the Buccaneers, who shot a solid 48.6 percent from the field but hurt themselves with 19 turnovers.

Winthrop, which committed just six turnovers, never trailed, although the game was tied at 5-5 early. Charleston Southern was within 10-9 seven minutes into the contest, but the Eagles then scored the next seven points to open some breathing room.

The Buccaneers rallied a few moments later, using an 8-2 run to tie the game at 22-22 with four minutes to play in the half. Rice scored five points and a three-pointer by Brown evened it up for the second time.

The Eagles, though, closed the half with a 9-3 spurt to take a 31-25 advantage to the break.

After a Rice layup to start the second half cut the Charleston Southern deficit to four, Winthrop countered with eight straight points. Williams started the run with a three-pointer and finished it with another bucket to give the Eagles a 39-27 advantage.

The Buccaneers whittled it down to five midway through the half, but a Martin three-pointer ignited a burst of nine consecutive Winthrop points to extend the lead back to double digits at 53-39 with just 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

Charleston Southern got only as close as nine from there, and Winthrop scored the last 13 points to make it rout.

Game Notes:

Winthrop has not lost since January 5...The Eagles also won the Big South title in 1988 when the league did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament...Charleston Southern's four Big South titles rank only behind Winthrop's six in league annals.