Box Score
Audio Highlights by Dave Friedman
www.winthropphotos.com

AUBURN, AL— Winthrop sophomores Andre Smith and Derrick Henry converted both of their free throws late in the game to help Winthrop pull off a 74-67 victory over Auburn, Saturday night.

The Eagles improve to 5-5 as they pick up their first victory over Auburn in four tries and have also won three of their last four games. With the loss, Auburn falls to 5-6. It's also the first time Winthrop has knocked off a school from a BCS conference since winning on Nov. 22, 2010 at Wake Forest.

“It's a great way to go into Christmas getting a W,” said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. “I've been in this business long enough to know that the Hershey kiss cookies taste a little bit better and mom's turkey tastes a little bit better when you're coming off a win. We were in a really tough venue against a really good team that's very well coached. It's nice to get a road win and I'm really proud of our guys.”

Winthrop led 67-56 at the final media timeout with 3:56 left and led 68-56 with 3:22 to play after a Bourne free throw, but the Tigers battled back to a one-possession game with 28 seconds to play after an Allen Payne put back off a Chris Denson miss behind the arc. Smith stepped up and made both free throws with 27 seconds to play and then after a missed three-pointer from Frankie Sullivan the Eagles boarded the miss and Henry knocked down his free throws to clinch the Eagles win.

Henry, who had been bothered by a knee injury and missed practices the last few days, finished with 10 points but it was junior Joab Jerome that led the Eagles in scoring with a career-high 16 points. Farmer finished with a career-high 15 points while Gamble added 13 points and a career-high five assists.

Smith and Henry made free throws late, but it was the long range shooting of Farmer that played a huge role in the second half as his back-to-back threes with just over 13 minutes to play in the game that put Winthrop in front 45-39 and forced an Auburn timeout. Winthrop eventually pushed the lead to 13 points as Farmer completed the rare four-point play and followed that with his fourth triple of the half for a 59-43 with 9:54 left to force another Auburn timeout.

“He stepped up in a major, major way and as we all know he can really, really get going,” said Kelsey. “He's got unbelievable elevation on his jump shot so he's almost always open. Even when he's not open, he's open because he can just jump over the top of people and get his shot off. As I'm able to trust Christian more on the defensive end the more he's going to be able to play and he's getting better on the defensive end.”

Auburn used an 8-0 run to cut the lead to single digits with just over eight to play, but the Eagles were able to push the lead to double-figures again on a Larry Brown lay-up and held the double-figure lead until a Sullivan three with 54 seconds to play.  

After the first 20 minutes of play, the Eagles and Tigers were tied at 33-33 shot the ball well and hit the offensive glass to generate some scoring. Winthrop shot 46 percent despite hitting just 2-of-12 behind the arc while the Tigers shot 43 percent.

Winthrop led 33-31 with just over a minute to go as Jerome got a steal, but lost the ball right back and Auburn's Allen Payne received the ball for an easy dunk to tie the game. Winthrop turned the ball over again on its final possession of the half looking to take the lead, but Sullivan missed a three-point attempt as time expired.

With 7:32 left to play in the first half, Winthrop took an eight-point lead after an alley-oop by Farmer on a nice feed from Gamble. Auburn slowly worked its way back and tied the game at 26-26 as Denson scored on a lay-up and was fouled but missed the free throw for the lead. Jerome made it 28-26 before Auburn did get its first lead since the first minute of the game.

The Eagles came right back as Jerome drove the lane and was fouled and Auburn was assessed a technical foul. Smith tied the game at 29-29 as he made one-of-two technical free throws and then the lead was 31-29 after Jerome converted on both of his free throws.

Sullivan led all scorers with 22 points as he was 12-for-12 from the foul line while Denson added 18 points. The Tigers generated 36 of its points in the game on the offensive glass and on turnovers as the Eagles defense held them to just 38 percent shoot (3-for-23 behind the arc).

The Eagles had one of their best shooting nights of the season, despite hitting just 28 percent behind the arc as they were 24-for-49 (49 percent). Winthrop was aggressive all night and got to the foul line a lot finishing 19-for-25 (76 percent).

The win is just the third ever against an SEC school and ranks among some of the top road wins in school history along with winning at Marquette, Mississippi State, Missouri, Providence and Ohio.

In addition to his 16 points, Jerome had six rebounds and three steals. Smith finished with a career-high seven assists as he finished with nine points.

The Eagles will be off a few days for the Christmas holiday and will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. when it hosts Hampton at the Winthrop Coliseum.