Box Score Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC--Reggie Middleton scored 20 points and
George Valentine had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead Winthrop past Liberty in a 65-63 Big South Conference victory Thursday night.
The win was Winthrop's second over the Flames in 12 days and came down to the wire just like the Eagles' 64-61 overtime win in Lynchburg on Jan. 14. Winthrop improves to 9-13 overall and 6-5 in conference play while Liberty drops to 7-15 and 2-8.
The contest featured two totally different halves for the Eagles who trailed the entire first period and went to the locker room down 35-33 after falling behind by as many as 8 points to the Flames. The second half was a complete reversal as Winthrop opened the final period with a 15-2 run in first four minutes, 12 seconds to take a 48-37 lead. Middleton scored six of his points during that stretch.
Winthrop still led by 11 at 56-45 with 10:03 left in the game following a long 3-pointer by
Gideon Gamble, but over the next 3:17, Liberty outscored the Eagles 10-0 to cut the deficit to one point when Antwan Burrus tipped in a Sanders miss at the 6:46 mark. Middleton answered with a three ball to put the Eagles up 59-55 with just over six minutes remaining to play, but Sanders cut the deficit to two points and David Minaya hit a mid-range jumper with 4:53 on the clock to knot the score at 59-59. The score remained tied at 61-61 with 3:58 left after Middleton and Minaya traded baskets.
Following a Winthrop turnover, Liberty had a chance to take the lead, but Minaya's shot was off target and the Eagles got a quick bucket by
Andre Jones on a baseline jumper with just over three minutes left in the game, but Sanders tied things up at 63-63 on a layup with 1:59 on the clock.
Joab Jerome then connected on a 15-foot pull up jumper with 1:24 remaining that proved to be the winning basket.
Liberty had two final chances to either win or send the game to overtime following a missed jumper by Jones. Minaya misfired on a 3-point attempt, but Tavares Speaks grabbed the rebound and missed on a contested baseline jumper as time expired.
In a game that matched the conference's top two assist leaders in LU's Jesse Sanders and Middleton, both players came up with strong performances. Sanders, who came in averaging nearly 8 assists per game, finished with 10 to give him a double-double as he scored 10 points and also grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds. Middleton had six assists to go along with his 20 points. The senior connected on a season-high three 3-pointers. Valentine had his fourth double-double of the season.
Joining Middleton and Valentine in double figures for Winthrop were Jones and Jerome with 10 points each. Liberty's Minaya and Burrus led the Flames with 13 while Sanders and his younger brother John Caleb Sanders scored 10 each.
Winthrop head coach Randy Peele called Middleton's performance his best of the season.
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they host High Point at 4 p.m. in the second game of a Big South Conference doubleheader. The Winthrop women will face HPU at 1 p.m.
