Box Score Box Score

LYNCHBURG, VA--Andre Jones and Reggie Middleton combined for 30 points to lead four players in double figures as Winthrop defeated Liberty 64-61 in overtime Saturday night in a Big South Conference showdown at the Vines Center.

Jones, who finished the game with 14 points, scored the tying basket with six seconds left in regulation to send th game to overtime and then hit the two clinching free throws in the extra period with three seconds remaining to give the Eagles the win and improve them to 4-3 in league play and 7-11 overall.  Liberty, which let a nine-point lead vanish in the final 7:38 of the game, drops to 1-7 in the conference and 6-14 overall.  The win snapped a string of five straight overtime losses by Winthrop in the past two seasons.

Middleton finished the night with 16 points to lead his team and became the 20th player in Winthrop men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 Point Club.  His driving bucket to open overtime gave him the milestone.  He now has 1,001 points.  With his 14 points, Jones moved ahead of Eddie Gay into 15th place on the career scoring list with 1,093 points.

George Valentine had his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds while freshman James Bourne scored a season-high 10 points.  Liberty had three players in double figures with John Caleb Sanders leading with a game-high 18 points while Jesse Sanders scored 13 and Antwan Burrus finished with 12. 

The game featured 10 ties and nine lead changes and Winthrop had a commanding 36-24 advantage in the paint, but it was a gutsy comeback performance in the final seven minutes of regulation that helped the Eagles pull out the win. 

Winthrop led 23-22 at halftime thanks to Gideon Gamble who came off the bench to score 8 points.  The Eagles could have had a bigger lead, but missed five of seven free throws in the first half.   Liberty's Antwan Burrus gave the Flames a quick one-point lead to open the second half before Bourne and Jones scored back-to-back baskets to put Winthrop up 27-24 with 17:47 left in regulation, but Liberty scored five straight points to reclaim the lead at 29-27 at the 15:26 mark.  Middleton knotted the game at 29 all with 14:38 remaining, but David Minaya answered with a layup and John Caleb Sanders nailed one of his three second half 3-pointers to give the Flames a 33-29 lead with just over 12 minutes on the clock.  Bourne cut the deficit to two with a layup,  but Liberty then outscored the Eagles 11-4 over the next three minutes to take a 44-35 lead.  Jesse Sanders had a 3-pointer to start the Liberty run and his brother John Caleb ended it with a trey.

Just like Thursday night at High Point where Winthrop found itself down by 10 points late in the game, the Eagles roared back to outscore the Flames 15-6 and tied the game 50-50 with 1:32 remaining on a jumper by Jones.  Minaya answered with a 3-pointer with 29 ticks left on the clock to put LU up 53-50.  Winthrop got to within a point when  Valentine rebounded a miss by Jones and scored with 16 seconds remaining to make the score 53-52.  Jesse Sanders was fouled quickly on the inbounds pass and then hit the first free throw, but missed the second to give Winthrop a chance to tie.  Following a timeout by Winthrop with 10 seconds to set up a tying or game-winning play, Jones took a pass on the right wing, but passed up a chance for a 3-pointer and drove to the basket to score with six seconds left.  Jesse Sanders got off a 15-foot jumper under pressure that missed as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.

Winthrop stepped its defense up in the overtime period to force Liberty into 1 of 6 shooting.  Middleton gave the Eagles the lead at 56-54 after he rebounded his own miss for a layup with 4:11 left in overtime.  The Eagles never trailed after that.  John Caleb Sanders tied the game for the last time at 56-56 with two free throws 11 seconds later, but Bourne then came up with a big three-point play to give Winthrop a 59-56 advantage with 3:38 remaining to play.

Winthrop will return to action next Tuesday night when it hosts Campbell at 7 p.m.