December 9, 2000

ROCK HILL, SC–Winthrop opened Big South Conference play by extending its homecourt winning streak to 15 in a row with a 66-49 victory over an undermanned Coastal Carolina squad. The win improves the Eagles to 5-4 overall while Coastal falls to 1-5.

After opening up a 10-point lead at 14-4 in the opening nine minutes, Winthrop saw that advantage vanish over an eight-minute span as the Chanticleers, who played without leading scorer Torrey Butler and starter Derrick Robinson who were suspended for disciplinary reasons prior to the game, tied the game at 22-22 with 3:21 left in the half. A layup by freshman Tyrone Walker put Winthrop back on top with 2:52 on the clock and the Eagles went up 32-24 at halftime.

Winthrop took control of the game early in the second period as it outscored the Chants 17-3 in the opening 6:45 to lead 49-27. Winthrop’s largest lead of the game reached 26 points at 55-29 with 9:13 remaining.

Tywan Harris led Winthrop off the bench with a career-high 12 points while Anthony Moore added a career-best 11 points. Coastal had double-doubles from two last-minute starters. Mihai Raducanu scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Antonio Darden had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Winthrop shot 50 percent from the floor on 24-48 while holding CCU to .362 on 17-47. The Eagles, however, were cold from the charity stripe hitting just 13 of 31 for 36 percent. The shorter Chanticleers won the rebounding battle 39-34.

Winthrop will take a week off before facing Marshall next Saturday afternoon in Huntington, WV, on a Fox SportSouth telecast.