Box Score Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC--Winthrop's Senior Night was spoiled by Presbyterian College as the Blue Hose got five free throws by Pierre Miller in the final 88 seconds of the game to give his team a 48-45 Big South Conference victory.

In a typical Winthrop-PC clash, the game went right down to the final buzzer as Andre Jones' 3-point attempt to tie the game hit off the front rim.  The loss drops the Eagles to 8-9 in conference play and 11-17 overall while PC improves to 8-8 in the conference and 12-14 overall.  A win by Winthrop would have secured a first round bye in the Big South Conference that begins in two weeks.  They close out the regular season at regular season champion UNC Asheville on Feb. 25 and will need a win to be sure of not having to host a first round game at the Winthrop Coliseum on Feb. 27. 

Winthrop had its chances down the final stretch of the game, but couldn't come up with a bucket after taking a 45-41 lead on back-to-back jumpers in the lane by Joab Jerome.  His final basket came with 1:49 remaining.  After a PC timeout, the Blue Hose ran a play for Miller to get a 3-point shot from the deep right wing.  He missed the shot, but Reggie Middleton was whistled for the foul and Miller calmly sank all three free throws to get PC to within a point at 45-44 at the 1:28 mark. 

The Eagles had a chance to increase the lead to three or four points on its next possesion, but a 3-point attempt by Middleton came up way short.  PC called another timeout with 38 seconds left to set up a play for A'Lonzo Coleman on the low block.  He missed his first attempt, but then tipped in his own miss to put the Blue Hose up 46-45 with 22 ticks left on the clock.  Winthrop still had a chance to take the lead, but Jerome was called for traveling to turn the ball back over to the Blue Hose with 12 seconds left.  Miller was fouled on the inbounds play and connected on two more free throws to make it a three-point game and set the stage for the last shot that was missed by Jones.

Jones, who was playing his final regular season home game, had a tough night shooting the ball.  He came into the game averaging 17.4 points and game and shooting 46 percent, but went just 2-12 from the floor and was 0 for 5 from the three.  He finished with a season-low four points.  Jones' shooting woes appeared to be contagious for the entire team as Winthrop shot 35 percent for the game (20-57) and failed to connect on a 3-point shot, breaking a streak of 85 straight games in which it had hit at least one trey. 

In a ragged first half that ended 22-16 in PC's favor, Winthrop shot just 26 percent (7-27) while the Blue Hose went 10 of 23 (43.5 pct.)  The second half was a reversal of that performance as the Eagles picked it up offensively connecting on 13 of 30 (43.3 pct.) while they held PC to 6 for 23 (26 pct.) 

The 3-point line figured prominently in the game as PC finished the night draining 5 of 10 from beyond the arc while Winthrop failed to connect.  Miller was 2 for 3 from the three and finished the game with a team-high 13 points.  He was the only PC player in double figures.

Winthrop fell behind by as many as nine points twice in the opening minutes of the second half.  Following a layup by Jay Reynolds with 17:56 left in the game, PC led 29-20, but from that point the Eagles outscored the Blue Hose 12-2 over a 7 minute, and 51 second stretch to claim their first lead of the game at  32-31 on a follow shot by Jerome.  The game featured three more lead changes and two ties in the final 9:28.  PC went ahead 37-34 on a triple by Josh Johnson at the 6:53 mark, but the Eagles responded with a 11-4 run over a five-minute stretch to take the 45-41 lead, but in the end it came down to PC making the plays when it had to and Winthrop not being able to get it done on the offensive end.

Winthrop was outrebounded 39-31 as PC's Coleman grabbed a game-high 18, but the Eagles were able to keep the game close thanks to its defensive effort which forced the Blue Hose into 14 turnovers.  Winthrop, on the other hand, committed just six turnovers for the game.

Jerome led the Eagles with a career-high 14 points while Matt Morgan finished with 11. 

Unless Winthrop is forced to play the Feb. 27 first round game, this contest marked the final appearance in the Winthrop Coliseum for the senior quartet of Middleton, Jones, Morgan, and George Valentine.  During their careers, that group has combined to play in 449 games. 

Next up for Winthrop is a Sears BracketBusters game at Appalachian State on Saturday at 2 p.m.  Presbyterian College is also in the BracketBusters series and will travel to Jacksonville State for a game this Saturday.