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ROCK HILL, SC— Freshman Keon Johnson scored a career-high 19 points to pace six players in double-figures as Winthrop defeated Roanoke College, 93-74 in its season opener Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Johnson scored 16 second half points to help Winthrop overcome a three-point halftime deficit and an eight-point second half deficit. The 93 points were the most scored by a Winthrop team in a season opener since defeating Lee University 97-73 at the start of the 1999-2000 season.

"The first thing I want to say is how much respect I have for the way Roanoke came in here and played," said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. "A ton of credit goes to them. They were really prepared, they executed, they played together. They walked in here with a confidence and a swagger that they belonged. Early on in the game they were the better team and that's a credit to how prepared they were."

When asked about the turnaround for the Eagles from the first half to the second, Kelsey noted that his players showed leadership. "I'll credit our players. I didn't' have to say much. I said a few things and the decibel level was a little bit higher than usual, but a lot of things were said and addressed before I even walked into the locker room and that's a credit to the leadership and the caliber of character we have with the individuals on our roster."

Roanoke College's Daniel Eacho scored on a hook shot in the lane for an eight point advantage early in the second half, Johnson took advantage after missing a three-pointer. Larry Brown boarded the miss and the ball found its way back into Johnson's hands as he drove the lane and scored while being fouled in the process. Johnson completed the three-point play that sparked a 9-3 run that gave the Eagles a one-point lead with 15:34 remaining.

That run led to the Eagles outscoring the Maroons 21-5 over the course of six and a half minutes for a 10-point lead with 11:23 to play. Sophomore Tevin Prescott had back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to one point at the beginning of the run that was capped off by a Christian Farmer four-point play. Freshman Josh Davenport found Farmer on the wing and he knocked down the shot as he was fouled by Andrew Daniels and made the free throw to complete the play.

The Maroons cut the deficit back down to seven with 10:16 to play but the lead went back to double-digits for the remainder of the game after Prescott knocked down a free throw. Davenport helped push the lead to 18 points as he scored five points during a 9-1 run for a 74-56 lead with just under eight minutes left.

Winthrop started off slow and found itself trailing by as much as 12 points in the first half as it shot just 23 percent from the floor over the first 12 minutes. Johnson hit a three at the 6:31 mark to cut the lead back down to nine points and Winthrop eventually pulled within a point at 36-35 with 2:09 left in the half. The Eagles cut the deficit to one point again with nine seconds remaining but allowed Daniels to beat the team down the court for an easy lay-in with two seconds left and a 40-37 Roanoke College lead at the break.

Winthrop shot 44 percent from the game with a 17-for-36 performance (47 percent) in the second half. The Eagles connected for 10 threes, which is the first time since Dec. 18, 2012 at #7 Ohio State that a Winthrop team hit 10 or more triples in a game.

The Maroons shot 42 percent in the first half to build its lead at the break and finished at 40 percent for the game, but turned the ball over 21 times. Winthrop converted the 21 turnovers into 27 points.

Farmer finished with a career-high 17 points as he was 5-for-11 from the field and 2-for-7 from three. Joab Jerome tossed in 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. The remaining three players in double-figures were Davenport with 12, Prescott with a career-high 11 and Andre Smith finished with 10. Freshman Jarad Scott pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.

Daniels led the Maroons with 15 points while Smith and Eacho both had 11 points. Eacho also finished with nine rebounds and two blocks.  
 
Winthrop will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 13 when it hosts USC Upstate at 7 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum.