Box Score Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA--The Eagles gave Virginia a bit of a scare, but in the end Winthrop ran out of steam before falling 69-48 to the Cavaliers at  John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday night as part of the 2011 Paradise Jam tournament.

With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Winthrop led 44-41 after freshman guard Andre Smith connected on back-to-back 3-pointers , but from that point on, Virginia outscored the Eagles 28-4 to claim the win.  The loss drops the Eagles to 0-2 on the season while UVA improves to 2-0.  Winthrop is now winless in three tries against Virginia as the two schools met for the first time since December, 1993.  Both teams will now head to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands for three games in four days starting on Friday.  Winthrop and Virginia will not face each other again unless they meet in the championship game. 

Winthrop was led offensively by its senior guard tandem of Reggie Middleton and Andre Jones who finished the game with 16 and 12 points, respectively.  Virginia placed three players in double-figures with Mike Scott leading with 18 while Jontel Evans had 17, including 14 in the final 10  minutes.  Assane Sene, a 7-footer from Senegal, added 10 for the winners.

Foul problems on its big men Matt Morgan and George Valentine along with free throw shooting played a big part in the final outcome.  Morgan was whistled for two quick fouls and only played 15 minutes before being whistled to the bench with six minutes remaining.  He sat out the final 17 minutes of the first half.  Valentine picked up his fourth foul with just under 13 minutes left,  but managed to avoid a fifth foul.  At the line, Winthrop went 9 of 19 while Virginia set a new school record by connecting on 19 for 19. 

The much taller Cavaliers also owned the boards as they enjoyed a 33-20 advantage on the glass.  Scott led all rebounders with eight while Joab Jerome pulled down six to lead the Eagles.  Winthrop finished the game shooting 40.5 percent (17-42) while UVA shot 47.8 (22-46).  Winthrop connected on five 3-pointers while Virginia nailed six, including five in the final 10 minutes.

In trying to explain what happened to his team over the final 10 minutes of the game, Winthrop head coach Randy Peele attributed it to a couple of things.  "First of all, I think they just wore us down and secondly, we got the ball on the rim, but it just wouldn't go down.  The breakdown came on the defensive side of the court.  They spread us out and hit some big 3-pointers."

Until that fateful run by UVA, Peele thought his team competed hard.  "I thought we played with outstanding effort for 30 minutes, but it is a 40 minute game.  Had it been a 30 minute game we would have won, but they just wore us down and foul trouble really hurt us.  We had to play our young guys in the post and that exposed our inability to score inside," he said.

After falling behind by as many as eight in the first half at 17-9, Winthrop fought back to trail by just three at intermission, 25-22.  The Eagles finally tied the score at 27 all when Jones drilled a 3-pointer with 18:04 left to play.  Winthrop took its first lead at 29-27 just 45 seconds later when Jones converted two free throws. 

The Eagles took a 44-41 lead after the second of back-to-back Andre Smith 3-pointers before Virginia answered with a 12-0 run to go up 53-44. The spurt was highlighted by a KT Harrell fast-break layup that was set up by a Joe Harris steal, and then a Harris 3-pointer.

A Reggie Middleton circus shot stopped the bleeding, but Virginia responded with a 16-2 run, which included an Evans' 3-pointer and fastbreak layup off a steal, to close the game.

Winthrop will now depart on Wednesday morning from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and practice on Thursday in St. Thomas before taking on No. 21 Marquette at 9:30 p.m. on Friday.  The Eagles will then play either Mississippi or Drake on Saturday or Sunday.  The final games will be played on Monday, Nov. 22 and team returns home on Tuesday.