Box Score
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RICHMOND, VA— The Winthrop men's basketball team hung around with 14^th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth for nearly 35 minutes but the Rams were too much in the end as the Eagles suffered their first loss of the season, 92-71, Saturday evening at the Verizon Wireless Center.

Winthrop falls to 2-1 as it shot 48 percent from the floor in the game, but VCU (3-0) doubled up the Eagles at the free throw line as the Rams were 34-for-48 from the foul line while the Eagles were 17-for-25. The Rams also nabbed 19 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second chance points while they also forced Winthrop into 25 turnovers that led to 30 points for the Rams.

"They shot 48 free throws, but that's as many as I've seen a team shoot in all my years of coaching and that's a credit to what I call their assault on the paint," said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. "They are absolutely downhill attacking the basket every time they touch it. That's in transition. That's in the half court. They were constantly putting pressure on you and we didn't do a good enough job of crowding the floor and moving our feet and keeping them out of the paint."

With just over seven minutes to play in the game, Joab Jerome made two free throws to cut the deficit to just eight points, but VCU quickly answered as Treveon Graham scored on a runner in the lane. Winthrop had two possessions to cut the lead back to single digits but turned the ball over both times and Jordan Burgess made two free throws to put the Rams up 75-63 with 5:53 remaining.

Brandon Vega made two free throws with 5:47 to play to cut the lead back to 10 but VCU boarded a miss on the other end and Melvin Johnson scored on lay-up for a 12-point advantage and then off an Eagle turnover Johnson drained a three for a 15-point lead with just over five to play.
Christian Farmer got the Eagles within 13 points at the 2:06 mark but that was as close as the Eagles got the rest of the way as VCU continued to attack the basket until the final seconds of the game.

After Tevin Prescott scored on a stick back at the 14:59 mark, VCU went on a 9-3 run for its first double-figure lead of the game as Rob Brandenberg finished off a steal with a lay-up for a 63-52 lead with 13:15 remaining. He was followed by a JeQuan Lewis layup that capped off an 11-2 VCU run and a 65-52 lead.  

Winthrop jumped out to an early 6-2 lead after Keon Johnson and Andre Smith dropped in threes. Johnson knocked down the triple on Winthrop's first possession of the game as he dribbled around the top of the three-point line and then pulled up off center from three and drained it. James Bourne scored on a put back for an 8-4 lead before VCU used a 10-3 run over a two minute span that put the Rams in front 14-11 at the 16:02 mark.

At that point, Jerome picked up his second foul and had to leave the game. Winthrop's Josh Davenport checked into the game for Jerome and immediately impacted the game. Davenport used a nice drop step and spin into the lane for a lay-up to cut the lead to one point and then back-to-back threes from Smith tied the game at 19-19 at the 14:26 mark.

The Rams built an eight point lead with 7:42 to play in the first half, but the Eagles continued to attack and work hard on the glass as they didn't allow VCU to extend the lead. Winthrop handled the HAVOC pressure for most of the first half despite nine turnovers that VCU turned into 10 points. VCU did most of its damage in the first half from the foul line, going 17-for-21 while the Eagles were just 5-for-9.

Farmer's hustle on an offensive rebound led to an easy two points as he tracked the ball down in the corner and quickly whipped a pass inside to an open Jarad Scott for the lay-up to cut the lead to five points with 1:41 to play in the half. After Mo Alie-Cox scored on a dunk with just over a minute left, Winthrop came down and called timeout. Winthrop was able to cut the deficit to four points before the half when Smith dished a no-look pass to Bourne for a lay-up with 32 seconds left as the defense held off VCU on its final possession to trail 45-41 at the break.

Winthrop shot 54 percent from the floor and was 6-for-10 behind the arc as Smith led the Eagles with 14 points at the break while Bourne had eight in the first half.

"They wear you down," added Kelsey. "They just keep coming. Sooner or later they wore us down and continued to hurt us in transition. Eventually it was a little bit too much for us to overcome. I thought our kids fought, but that's a given when you wear a Winthrop uniform. There is no reason for a parade for your team to play hard. I fully expected our kids to come in here and stare at them eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose, toe-to-toe and not blink and we did that."

Smith led Winthrop with 15 points on 4-for-10 shooting and 4-for-9 behind the arc as he also tied his career-high with seven rebounds and also dished out three assists. Johnson finished with 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting while Bourne also had 11.

Winthrop will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 19 as it remains on the road to take on East Tennessee State at 7 p.m.