Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC— A tough second half defensive effort helped lift Winthrop to a 59-35 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne, Tuesday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop improves to 2-2 on the year while Lenoir-Rhyne remains at 4-0 as the game counts as an exhibition.
Threes were hard to come by for the Eagles but a
Gideon Gamble triple from the corner and a fast break lay-in by
Derrick Henry started a 7-0 run that opened up the game to a double-digit lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Lenoir-Rhyne did get the lead back down to 10 points with 6:45 to play after a Denzel Dillingham three, but a 10-0 run put the Eagles up 20 with just under three to play. Winthrop finished the game just 5-for-18 behind the arc and Gamble's three at the key moment was just the third of the game for Winthrop at the time.
Gamble finished with a game-high 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting as Henry finished with 11 points, nine of which came in the second half. Both were the only two players in double-figures as the Bears were led by B.J. Beasley's nine points and R.J. McClure added eight.
The first half saw both teams struggle to make shots as Winthrop finished 7-for-23 (30 percent) and Lenoir-Rhyne was 8-for-26 (31 percent) as the teams were deadlocked at 17-17 at the break.
Winthrop trailed 7-4 early on, but made an 8-2 run midway through the half to lead 12-9 with 7:52 on the clock. The run started with a free throw by Gamble and was capped off by a three-pointer from
Joab Jerome and a jumper in the lane by Henry.
The Eagles bench gave a solid effort, contributing for 13 points as well as 18 of the team's 35 rebounds as junior
Steve Johnson led the way with a career-high eight boards.
James Bourne also had solid numbers off the bench with six points and five rebounds.
All five starters for the Eagles scored at least six points as Jerome had nine points,
Andre Smith had eight and
Larry Brown chipped in with six. Jerome also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
After the sluggish first half shooting, Winthrop knocked down 56 percent of its field goals in the second half and got even tougher defensively holding the Bears to 23 percent shooting.
The Eagles will be out of action over the Thanksgiving holiday and will return to the court on Wednesday, Nov. 28 as they head to Spartanburg, SC and take on Wofford College at 7 p.m.
