ROCK HILL, SC-- Winthrop looks to build on its season opening win over Roanoke College as it takes on a USC Upstate team looking to do the same.
The Eagles hope to start 2-0 for the first time since 2009-10 when they defeated USC Upstate in their second game of the season to start 2-0. That season the Eagles started off 5-9 before reeling off 13 wins in their final 17 games to capture the Big South Championship and make their 9th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Against Roanoke College, the Eagles looked shaky over the first 20 minutes but behind some of their most inexperienced players, woke up and used a 21-5 run to open up a 10-point lead. Over the next four mintues that lead grew to 18 points. Freshman
Keon Johnson scored the first eight points of the second half for Winthrop and finished with a game-high 19 points. He was one of six players in double-figures for the Eagles as three of them reached double-figures for the first time in their collegiate career.
Johnson wasn't the only impact freshman as
Josh Davenport came off the bench to score 12 points. He also had two assists and two steals in 20 minutes as he helped the Eagles pull within two points with 3:41 left in the first half.
Sophomore walk-on
Tevin Prescott had his biggest impact as an Eagle as he posted a career-high 11 points and eight rebounds. Prescott did a good job on the boards and scored seven of his points in the second half. Prescott followed Johnson's eight-point explosion to open the second half with four straight points to pull Winthrop within a point.
The Eagles knocked down 11 triples as Johnson finished with four while
Christian Farmer and
Andre Smith each had two. Farmer's biggest basket came when he knocked down a three in the corner and was fouled in the process. Farmer knocked down the free throw to complete the four-point play that capped off the 21-5 run in the second half.
Outside of Prescott, the Eagles received little offensive production from its posts as
James Bourne didn't score and was 0-for-2 from the field while
Larry Brown was 1-for-5 from the field for three points. Freshman
Jarad Scott did score four points on 2-for-5 shooting and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Winthrop is 4-1 in its last five games and 7-3 in its last 10 games when facing a Division I opponent following its Non-Division I victory.
USC Upstate is also looking to start the season 2-0 after opening with a 64-63 victory over Virginia Tech for the program's first ever victory over an Atlantic Coast Conference member. Junior Ty Greene led the way with 17 points as he scored 15 of those in the second half. His efforts landed him Atlantic Sun Player of the Week honors. Last season he started 29-of-33 games for the Spartans averaging 12.6 points per game and led the team with 76 made threes.
Senior Torrey Craig had 13 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Hokies while senior Ricardo Glenn had 10 points.
The Eagles are 10-9 against the current teams of the Atlantic Sun.
