Box Score
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RADFORD, VA— Winthrop had a couple of looks in the final seconds but couldn't get them to fall as it fell 58-57 to Radford, Saturday afternoon in Big South Conference men's basketball action.

Winthrop falls to 8-11 overall and 2-5 in the Big South while Radford improves to 10-11 overall and 4-3 in the league. Winthrop had won the previous four meetings with the Highlanders.

“That's hard, it's hard. Those are very, very tough locker room conversations (referring to the tough one-point loss),” said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. “You know that your kids just fought their brains off and they were warriors out there today. They stood toe-to-toe when they threw punches and counter-punches (figuratively). Down the stretch we didn't completely keep our composure and made some key errors and they made some big, big shots and big plays. It was just a classic college basketball game that we came up a little bit short on.”

After Andre Smith had drilled a three-pointer with 1:26 to play for a 57-56 lead for the Eagles as he came off a screen from down low and was open straight away as he drilled the shot. It was his third three of the game as Smith finished with a team-high 15 points.

“We were trying to get into a set play and what we ended up doing was flowing into our motion,” said Kelsey regarding the play set up to get Smith the open look from three with 23 seconds left. “We float into our motion and then James Bourne set a screen on the baseline for Andre and his man shortcut it and he did a good job at changing the screening angle it gave Andre a wide open shot, but initially we were trying to get into a quick hitter but they did a good job of choking out Andre and not letting him get the ball back so it forced Joey (Joab Jerome) to handle the ball up top.”

With just under a minute to play, Price drove toward the baseline in front of the Radford bench and spun into the lane when he got near the touchline and found himself with an open layup for a 58-57 lead with 52.7 left.

“They set a little sideline ball screen and he (Price) drove baseline and James Bourne did what we call 'Own the ball screen' to not allow him to turn the corner,” said Kelsey. “It was an absolute miraculous play that he was able to spin and take up the amount of real estate that he did legally and make the basket . It was just a phenomenal, phenomenal play on that kid's part to see the type of area he was able to cover on that spin move.”

Winthrop had a couple of chances in the end to take the lead, but couldn't get the shot to fall. Smith came off a screen for an open look from three with 23 seconds left and the miss was boarded by Derrick Henry, who tried a one-handed floater in the lane that hit glass and missed. Price missed the front end of a one-and-one as the Eagles went down and called timeout to set up a play for the final shot with 15 seconds left. Radford had a foul to give and did so with eight seconds left. Joab Jerome had the ball one-on-one with a Highlander for the final shot and drove the lane but as he went up for the shot the ball slipped out of his hands into traffic and was then tied up with .5 left in the game. Winthrop, which had the possession arrow, didn't get a shot off on the final inbound play.

After leading 29-27 at the half, Winthrop opened the second half on a 10-2 run for a 10-point lead with 15:34 on the clock. At that point turnovers proved costly for the Eagles, but none more than two down the stretch that led to five straight Radford points that tied the game at 52-52 with 3:22 remaining. Leading 52-46, Gideon Gamble was called for a travel that Radford turned into a three-pointer on the other end by Rashun Davis and then on the Eagles next possession Gamble looked as if he was bumped and after made an errant pass into the backcourt that Radford's Javonte Green finished on the other end and was fouled in the process as he converted the foul shot to tie the game.

The Highlanders ended up converting 13 Winthrop turnovers into 21 total points and had a 14-0 advantage in fast break points.

Winthrop and Radford traded jabs early on as the game was tied at 13-13 before a 7-0 run by Radford. The run was ended by a Christian Farmer three-pointer and the Eagles worked their way back to take the lead with a minute to play after Derrick Henry drained a three-pointer. The Henry triple ended a 9-2 run to end the half by Winthrop that had Henry scoring the last five points.

Green kept the game close in the first half as he scored 20 of the Highlanders 27 points. He was 9-for-10 from the field while the rest of the team was 3-for-15.

Smith was one of three players to score in double-figures as Henry finished with 14 points and Gamble added 10 points. For Henry, it was his first time in double-figures in the last six games as he was 5-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 behind the arc to go along with four assists and five rebounds. He set a personal best in points, rebounds and assists in Big South Conference games.

Green finished with a game-high 26 points as he was 11-for-15 from the field while the rest of the Radford team was 12-for-35 (34 percent). Price had 12 points while Davis finished with 10.

Winthrop shot 49 percent for the game and an impressive 53 percent behind the arc (9-for-17), but Radford finished at 47 percent from the floor and was 8-for-12 at the foul line. Winthrop finished 4-for-8 at the line.

Winthrop will play four of its next five games at home beginning with Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.