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ROCK HILL, SC— The men's basketball team will look for a second straight victory as it heads to Buies Creek, NC for a Big South Conference clash with Campbell, Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be available live on ESPN3.
Winthrop ended a four-game losing streak with a 62-51 victory over Presbyterian College on Wednesday.
Through three league games, Winthrop had a tough time defending the three as the first three opponents were 29-for-71 (41 percent). And after the first half of Wednesday's game PC was 4-for-8 behind the arc. In the second half, the Eagles got back to the high intensity defense they've been for most of the season and clamped down to hold PC 1-for-8 from three and held on for their first league win. The Eagles held PC to below 40 percent shooting in the first and second half, which is just the third time all season they've done that to an opponent.
It was a step on the right direction for an Eagle team that had allowed its first three conference opponents to shoot a combined 53 percent in the second half. PC shot just 37 in the second and Winthrop held an opponent under 60 points for the first time since the win over Hampton (43).
Until its recent losing streak, Winthrop (7-9, 1-3 BSC) had been one of the top two defensive teams in the Big South and still remains second in defensive scoring (62.1) as well as second in defensive field goal percentage (.409).
Winthrop's leading scorer
Derrick Henry continues to work at finding his scoring touch again as his average has dropped from 15.2 points to 11.9 points per game since his injury. Henry seemed to be moving much better against PC and was aggressive as he went to the foul line eight times. He finished with six points as he was just 1-for-7 from the floor.
Other players have stepped up their game on the offensive end to pick up the slack as
Gideon Gamble (R-Sr.) is averaging 10.7 points per game and has scored in double-figures in four straight and six of the last seven games. In four league games he's shooting 48 percent from the floor and an impressive 64 percent behind the arc (9-for-14).
Andre Smith, who had been struggling on the offensive end, chipped in with 11 points against PC and is now averaging 8.1 points per game. Smith was 3-for-6 from the floor and knocked down both free throws to help the Eagles to victory. For the fourth time on the season, Smith didn't commit a single turnover.
Junior
Steve Johnson made his first start of the year against PC and responded with 10 points in 17 minutes of action. He was 3-for-5 from the field and 4-for-5 from the foul line as he now has 20 points in his last four games.
Sophomore post players
James Bourne and
Larry Brown have increased their scoring in league games. Bourne is up to 7.8 points per game (+1.9) and Brown is averaging 8.8 in conference (+2.3). Both are shooting at an efficient mark as Bourne is shooting 63 percent and Brown is knocking down 58 percent of his shots.
The Eagles avoided their first 0-4 start since the 1997-98 season and will look to avoid the first 1-4 start since the 1996-97 season.
Winthrop takes on an 8-10 Campbell squad that had a win streak of five games come to a halt Wednesday night in a 76-57 loss at VMI. Campbell opened up league play at home on Jan. 5 with a win over Gardner-Webb in triple-overtime, but then hit the road for the next three games and will be ready to play in front of the home crowd. The Camels are 3-1 in the Big South.
The Camels lead the all-time series 17-11 overall and 13-7 in Big South regular season contests but the Eagles won the last meeting. Winthrop knocked off the third-seeded Camels in the 2012 Big South Conference Tournament opening round, 75-55. Two of the last three meetings and nine of the last 12 meetings have gone to Campbell.
After the league opening win over the Runnin' Bulldogs, Campbell learned that its leading scorer would be out indefinitely with a knee injury. Senior guard Darren White was averaging 21.8 points per game while shooting an impressive 51 percent from the field and also averaged 7.2 rebounds.
Campbell responded by going to Longwood and winning 83-73 and then to PC and winning 62-46 before falling at VMI at the end of the three-game road swing.
In the first two games without their star scorer, Campbell placed five players in double-figures at Longwood and three against the Blue Hose. Sophomore guard Trey Freeman has remained a consistent scoring threat and is averaging 13.9 points while leading the league in assists per game (6.1) and assist/turnover ratio. In the last three games he's right at his scoring average (14.0 points).
Junior Darian Hooker is second on the team at 10.6 points per game and is the top scoring threat behind the arc (25-for-82 on the year). He's averaging 11.3 points in four league games, coming off the bench in all four games.
Reco McCarter, a sophomore guard, is averaging 7.7 points per game and is up to 8.8 in league play. One player that's really stepped up his scoring is Darius Leonard as he averages 5.4 points per game on the year, but 12.0 points in the Big South.