Box Score BOX SCORE
ROCK Hill, SC—George Valentine had his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead four players in double figures as Winthrop opened the season with a 70-61 Homecoming Day win over Queens of Charlotte on Saturday.
Also scoring in double digits for Winthrop were Reggie Middleton with 15 while Justin Burton and Andre Jones had 10 each. Queens placed three players in double figures with Antonio Stabler and Brandon Nichols scoring 12 each while Daniel Bailey pitched in with 11. Winthrop now owns a 5-1 advantage in the series with the NCAA Div. II Queens Royals.
Winthrop appeared to be cruising early toward an easy win, as Gideon Gamble drilled a 3-pointer from straight away put Winthrop up 20-10 with just over 10 minutes left in the first half. Julius Francis, Winthrop's 6-11 red-shirt freshman from Nigeria, scored his first collegiate points with 9:40 remaining in the period as he skied high above the rim for the easy tip-in.
A layup by Middleton, followed by a lay-in by George Valentine off a lob pass from Middleton pushed the Eagles' advantage to 32-20 with 4:30 on the clock. Another Winthrop freshman, 6-5 Joab Jerome gave his team a 13-point advantage at 35-22 with his first points on a baseline jumper with just over three minutes remaining in the first half.
After trailing by 14 at the break, Queens the first three buckets of the second half to trim the Eagle lead to 37-29 before Middleton answered with a baseline jumper to extend the margin back to 10. The Royals refused to wilt and trimmed the deficit to seven at 43-36 following a three-point play by Daniel Bailey after he threw down a dunk and converted a free throw with 12:45 left in the contest. A 3-pointer by Sean Eads cut Winthrop's lead to 47-41 with 10:06 to play.
Winthrop was never able to put the Royals away after going up by 10 again, Brandon Nichols connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing to draw Queens to within seven once again at 51-44 with just over eight minutes left on the clock. The Royals got to within six at 54-48 when Nichols hit another trey following one by Gamble.
“I was a bit concerned during walk-through this morning at 9:30. Our guys just seemed sluggish and that showed during the game,” said Winthrop head coach Randy Peele. “Give Queens credit. They played very hard, but I just didn't think our team was excited like they should have been for the season opener.”
Winthrop's offensive attack was stymied as Matt Morgan sitting on the bench for much of the game with foul trouble. He picked up two early fouls after scoring six of Winthrop's first 12 points and had to sit the final 15 minutes of action. He picked up two more fouls in the first eight minutes of the final period. Morgan finished the game with 6 points as he connected on 4 of 5 field goals.
The largest lead by Winthrop was 16. Queens never led.
Winthrop's next game will be at 9:30 p.m. on Monday when they face VCU in the second game of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament in Winston-Salem, NC. Wake Forest will host Hampton at 7 p.m. in the opener.
