Box Score
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ROCK HILL, SC— Andre Smith scored 14 points, including a big three-pointer with 2:01 left in the game to help Winthrop to a 61-48 victory over Coastal Carolina, Wednesday night in Big South Conference men's basketball action at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Coastal Carolina's Badou Diagne drained  three-pointer to cut the lead to seven points with two and a half minutes to play, but Smith answered on the other end when Joab Jerome found him in the corner and he connected for a 10-point lead with just over two minutes remaining as the Eagles held on for the 13-point victory.

The win puts the Eagles at 9-11 overall on the year and 3-5 in the Big South while Coastal Carolina falls to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in league play.

“I told the guys in the locker room I was really proud of them because that victory personifies what a team win is,” said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. “James Bourne, Larry Brown, Andre Smith got in foul trouble in the first half and Reggie King, Shola Diop, and Steve Johnson came in the game. Guys that come off the bench, you pride yourself in not maintaining the status quo but raising the level of play when you come in and that's what those three guys did.”

The Eagles received 16 points and 12 rebounds from its bench as Gideon Gamble and Diop each had seven points while Diop finished with six rebounds.

Entering the game Coastal Carolina ranked in the Top 25 nationally in rebounding and led the league in rebound margin at +7, but the Eagles crashed the boards hard and finished with a 39-27 advantage on the glass in the end. That included 14 offensive rebounds, 10 of which came in the second half.

“A team like Coastal Carolina, who is one of the elite offensive rebounding teams in the country and I give them a ton of credit because it's a huge part of their culture,” said Kelsey. “Their nastiness going to the offensive glass, I was proud of our guys for holding them to seven offensive rebounds.”

With 7:05 to play in the game, Kierre Greenwood boarded his own miss in the lane and scored to cut the lead to four points at 42-38. Jerome looked to score for the Eagles on the other end but his shot was blocked, but Diop ran to the glass and ended up hauling in the blocked shot and quickly scoring off the glass to push the lead back to six points. After Anthony Raffa missed a three-pointer on the other end, the Eagles came down and pushed the lead to nine points with 6:08 left as Smith drilled a three from the corner.

On the other end, the Chanticleers looked to cut back into the lead but Uros Ljeskovic missed the front end of a one-and-one and on the ensuing possession the Eagles ended up with a four-point possession to take a 51-38 lead with 5:31 left. Derrick Henry came off a screen and drilled a three, but Raffa was whistled for a foul at the same time. The basket counted and Larry Brown made 1-of-2 at the foul line.

Henry led Winthrop with 15 points on 4-for-10 shooting and 5-for-6 at the foul line as he also had three assists. Smith finished the game 5-for-8 and was 4-for-6 behind the arc as he also tied his career-high with seven rebounds. Henry and Smith were the only Eagles in double-figures, but Jerome finished with nine points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Winthrop opened the second half on a 6-0 run for a 31-26 lead behind a couple of Andre Smith triples. The lead even extended to as much as nine points after Gamble's floater in transition counted as the Chanticleers were called for goal tending. That put the Eagles in front 38-29 with 13:15 to play.

A Warren Gillis three in the corner followed by an inside bucket by El Hadji Ndieguene cut the lead to four points with just under 12 remaining in the game.

Coastal Carolina raced out to an early 5-0 lead behind a Greenwood floater in the lane and a three-pointer in the corner by Gillis. Winthrop used an 8-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 8-7 at the 14:59 mark. Coastal answered with a 9-0 run to double-up the Eagles at 16-8 behind a couple of Raffa three-pointers.

Winthrop trailed 20-12 after Coastal got its second straight offensive rebound and Raffa drove the lane and connected with a runner off the glass with 9:15 to play in the first half. Winthrop responded with a three-point play by Jerome to cut the lead to five with 8:10 on the clock.

Derrick Henry dropped a three from the wing to make it a two-point game in favor of Coastal Carolina and then tied the game at 22-22 with 2:40 on the clock on two free throws. The Chanticleers ended up taking a 26-25 lead into the half. Gillis hit a pull up jumper in the lane for a 26-24 lead as Winthrop went down to hold for the last shot. Christian Farmer put up an open three that rolled down and out as Diop boarded the miss and was fouled. Diop made 1-of-2 free throws and the Eagles got the long rebound and Jerome put up a three that was rebounded by Diop and his stick back didn't fall.

The Chanticleers shot 46 percent from the field in the first half while the Eagles shot 36 percent, but were able to keep it close by going 8-for-9 at the foul line.

Raffa finished with a game-high 16 points while Greenwood added 11 points and two assists. Gillis chipped in with 10 points.
It was the second straight win over the Chanticleers and fourth in the last six meetings. Winthrop held Coastal Carolina to 39 percent shooting in the game (33 in the second half). The 48 points were the fewest points allowed by Winthrop against the Chanticleers since holding them to 43 in a home victory on Jan. 26, 2008.

Winthrop remains at home as it will take on Liberty on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. and the game will be aired on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). Coastal Carolina is back in action on Saturday as well when it returns home for a 7 p.m. contest against Radford.