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ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop men's basketball returns home to take on Gardner-Webb, Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Winthrop is coming off a tough loss on Saturday at Campbell as the Eagles are now 1-4 in league play and 7-10 overall. Gardner-Webb enters the game at 2-3 in league play and 10-9 overall.

The Eagles overcame double-digit deficits in the first and second half and even grabbed a three-point lead with 4:49 to play after a Derrick Henry basket in the lane. Henry was fouled on the play and had a chance to make it a two-possession game but couldn't get the free throw to tie.

With the four-point loss, Winthrop has now lost four games decided by 10 or fewer points.

The Eagles return home where they are 5-3 on the year and have are 1-1 in league play. In the two conference games at home, Winthrop is averaging 61.5 points while allowing 62.5. Last time Winthrop played at home it won by 11 points over Presbyterian College and held the Blue Hose to 38 percent shooting while dominating the glass 35-28 and yielding just five offensive boards to PC.

Sophomore Derrick Henry is holding on to the team's best scoring average at 11.7 despite not scoring in double-figures in the last five games. Henry has started the last two games and is coming off a nine-point performance at Campbell on Saturday.

Second on the team in scoring is redshirt Gideon Gamble at 10.2 points per game. Gamble only had three points at Campbell but has double-figures in six of the last eight games. He's knocking down threes at an impressive mark in league played (10-for-17).

Junior Joab Jerome is coming off a 16-point performance at Campbell, which tied his career-best. Jerome is averaging double-figure points over the last five games and 4.6 assists as well. His scoring average increased to 8.9 per game as he's shooting 49 percent on the year and leads the team in assists with 40 (2.5 per game).

The last five games have been the first five games of league play for the Eagles and sophomore James Bourne has increased his scoring over that time span from under six points a game to 8.2. He's averaging 8.2 points, 3.0 rebounds while shooting 62 percent in league play. He had 10 points at Campbell and has double-figures in three of the last five.

Winthrop has lost five of its last six games, but it hasn't been a lack of shooting as it has shot 40 percent or better in four of the six games. The Eagles have also shot the ball well from three at a mark of 37 percent (5.5 made per game). The Eagles have also attempted more free throws than their opponents, but are shooting 66 percent.

Opponents in that six-game span can't seem to miss against the Eagles as they've combined to shoot 46 percent and 40 percent from three (7.3 made). Opponents are also shooting 77 percent from the foul line.

Winthrop has already faced four of the league's top five teams in scoring and those teams are a combined 16-4 in league play so far.

Gardner-Webb is coming off a 52-51 home loss to Radford on Saturday as R.J. Price drained a three-pointer at the buzzer. It was just the second loss at home on the year for the Runnin' Bulldogs and came after they were able to pull off a one-point win over Coastal Carolina the Wednesday prior. The loss came after Radford had led 30-8 at one point in the game before Gardner-Webb battled back.

Gardner-Webb and Winthrop have been 1-2 in the league in defensive scoring for the majority of the season. Gardner-Webb leads the league allowing just 60.6 points per game while Winthrop is second at 62.2.

The Runnin' Bulldogs, just one of two teams in the conference with winning record on the season, have only allowed a team to score 70 or more points four times all year and one of those games was a triple-overtime loss at Campbell.

So far this season the road hasn't been kind to Gardner-Webb, posting a 1-7 mark. The scoring average on the road has been 61.9, but the record is a bit deceiving as five of the road losses are by less than 10 points and three of the games are by less than five points. The Runnin' Bulldogs lost by one point at Illinois and two points at East Carolina.

Sophomore wing Donta Harper leads Gardner-Webb in scoring at 14.1 points per game and has led the team in scoring 11 times. In those games Gardner-Webb is 5-6. Redshirt senior guard Tashan Newsome is second on the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game as well as 5.7 rebounds. Newsome had 10 points against Radford, but was just 2-for-16 from the field as he also hauled in nine boards and had four assists. Harper had 11 on 5-for-10 shooting against Radford as he and Newsome were the only ones in double-figures on Saturday.

Winthrop leads the all-time series 11-5 and has won three straight over Gardner-Webb at home. The last three games have been decided by a single possession. The two teams split last year with each winning on their home court.