Box Score
www.winthropphotos.com
BOILING SPRINGS, NC— The Winthrop men's basketball team dropped its second straight game with a 65-52 loss at Gardner-Webb, Tuesday evening in Big South Conference men's basketball action.
Winthrop falls to 11-15 overall and 5-9 in the league while Gardner-Webb improves to 17-11 on the year and 9-5 in the Big South as it has won four straight and seven of the last eight.
The Eagles held a 12-point first half advantage but the Runnin' Bulldogs scored the final six points of the first half and then outscored the Eagles 15-9 to open the second half to tie the game at 39-39 after a Tyler Strange deep three-pointer from straight on. It capped off eight straight points by Strange to tie the game for the first time since early in the game when the score was 2-2.
Max Landis made one-of-two free throws for the first Gardner-Webb lead of the game, 40-39. That was part of a 13-2 run that pushed the Runnin' Bulldogs into a nine-point advantage at 40-49 with 8:08 to play after a Kevin Hartley three-pointer in the corner following an offensive rebound.
Turnovers played a big role in allowing Gardner-Webb to tie the game and eventually take the lead for good as the Eagles committed 10 turnovers in the second half (18 For the game).
Gardner-Webb dominated the game at the free throw line going 28-for-35 while the Eagles were 11-for-16. The 35 free throws, 20 of which came in the second half during the comeback, were the most against the Eagles on the year and the second time on the road that their opponent attempted at least 30 free throws. The battle of the boards went to the Runnin' Bulldogs as well with a 37-23 advantage including 16 offensive boards.
Joab Jerome scored the first seven points for Winthrop to help the team to a 9-2 lead early on. Winthrop's defense was getting the job done and held the Runnin' Bulldogs to just two points over the first six and a half minutes and under 10 points until the 7:55 mark of the first half.
Gardner-Webb pulled within a point at 12-11 with 8:41 remaining in the half before the Eagles went on a 13-3 run that was capped off by seven straight points.
Christian Farmer ignited the run with a baseline jumper off the dribble and
Andre Smith scored seven points including a three-pointer for a 25-14 lead. After the Runnin' Bulldogs cut the lead back to single-digits, it was Smith again as he pulled up for a quick three and drained it to give Winthrop a 28-16 lead with 3:27 left.
Reggie King knocked down two free throws for a 30-18 lead with 2:44 to play in the half, but Gardner-Webb scored the final six points of the half to make it 30-24 at the break.
The Eagles shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half as they scored 30 points in the first half for the first time since doing so against Gardner-Webb at the Winthrop Coliseum on Jan. 23.
With the absence of the team's leading scorer
Derrick Henry (11.4 per game0, Jerome led the Eagles with 15 points while Smith finished with 10 points.
Gardner-Webb was led by Jerome Hill's game-high 18 points as he was 4-for-8 from the field and 10-for-13 at the line. Strange added 14 points while Donta Harper had 12.
Winthrop will step away from Big South Conference action as its next contest will be against Southeastern Louisiana in its Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters match-up. Tip is set at 4 p.m. and will be part of a doubleheader with the women's team, who faces Radford at 1 p.m.
