Champagnie leads Pitt basketball to title at Fort Myers Tip-Off

FORT MYERS, Fla. — As the horn blew after Pitt’s 72-59 win over Northwestern in the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship game Wednesday night, Jeff Capel and Chris Collins approached each other and shared a big hug, with Capel telling his former teammate, “I love you. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Capel and Collins have been dear friends since they started competing together in 1993. They not only played at Duke, they coached there before taking on jobs with Pitt and Northwestern.

On this night, it was Capel’s Panthers (6-2) trending upward.

Tournament MVP Justin Champagnie had 21 points to lead the Panthers, and Xavier Johnson joined him on the all-tournament team after he had 11 points and eight assists. Eric Hamilton added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Pat Spencer, also named to the all-tournament team, had 18 points and Boo Buie 13 for Northwestern (3-3).

Champagnie hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half to push Pitt’s lead to 56-43 with 5½ minutes to play. The Wildcats cut the deficit back to six with just under three minutes left, but a 9-0 surge, with Champagnie hitting another 3, sealed the deal. After a slow start, the Panthers made 7 of 25 treys. At one point, the Panthers were 2 of 33 behind the arc in the tournament.

“My teammates wanted to me to shoot the ball. Coach wanted me to shoot the ball, so I shot the ball,” Champagnie said.

Capel added, “We’re a streaky-shooting team, but we’re taking good shots. I won’t take a guy out for missing shots. I will if they’re not playing hard or forcing some things.”

Capel said he feels since Collins took the Northwestern job seven years ago, he’s been with him every step of the way. And in Capel’s two years at Pitt, he feels Collins has been a sounding board.

“He’s part of my family,” Collins said. “His kids call him me uncle, and my kids call him uncle.

“We’re very lucky in this profession when there’s someone you can lean on. It’s tough to go through highs and lows and difficult situations. He’s someone I can call and be vulnerable with and share my struggles, my frustrations, my goods. He’s been a great friend, and, hopefully, I’ve been there for him.

“Now, we can go back to being each other’s cheerleaders.”