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ROCK HILL, SC— The Winthrop men's basketball team couldn't overcome 61 percent shooting in the second half by Longwood as it fell 62-56, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
The loss is the first at home in five games and drops the Eagles to 10-13 on the year and 4-7 in the Big South while Longwood picks up its first league victory for a 1-10 mark and is 4-21 overall.
Longwood led by seven points with 6:07 left in the game after a T.T. Carey three, but Winthrop responded with an
Andre Smith triple with 5:55 to play and eventually cut the deficit to one at 54-53. Jeylani Dublin answered right back with a jumper for a three-point advantage that shrunk back to one after
Joab Jerome scored on a drive.
Dublin knocked down two free throws with 2:37 remaining for a three-point lead again. The Eagles missed a couple of opportunities to tie the game or make it a one-point deficit again as the next two possessions
Gideon Gamble couldn't get his three-point effort to fall and then the ball slipped out of Jerome's hands as he drove baseline and tried to kick the ball out to the wing. Longwood's Lucas Woodhouse scored a lay-up on the ensuing possession for a five-point cushion with just under a minute to play. The Eagles had solid looks down the stretch on their possessions, but the shots wouldn't fall as they missed their final five shots (all from three).
Dublin scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and was one of four Longwood players in double-figures.
In the second half alone, Longwood was 14-for-24 from the field and 6-for-7 at the foul line while Winthrop shot just 39 percent, 4-for-13 from behind the arc. For the game Winthrop finished at 42 percent shooting while Longwood shot 50 percent.
Longwood opened the second half on a 5-0 run and pushed the lead to five points with 16:57 to play after a Michael Kessens jumper. The two teams battled back-an-forth and Winthrop tied the game at 36-36 after Gamble dropped in a baseline jumper. Carey scored on a lay-up on a fast break at the 13:57 mark to give Longwood a lead it didn't give up the rest of the way.
The Lancers raced out to an early 7-4 lead in the two and a half minutes of the game, but then went cold from the field and did not score for almost seven minutes following Dublin's jumper at the 17:27 mark. This opened up an opportunity for the Eagles, but they also had a hard time getting shots to fall as they outscored Longwood 9-0 in that span for an 11-7 lead. Winthrop turned up the offense and turned it into a 15-2 run for a 17-9 lead with 8:14 on the clock after a
Derrick Henry jumper in the lane.
Back-to-back threes by Longwood cut the lead to two points with just over seven minutes left, but Smith answered with a three in the corner for a 20-15 lead. Longwood kept chipping away and took a 27-25 lead with over a minute left in the half. With 34 seconds left, Gamble knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 27-27 at the break.
Winthrop was led by Gamble's 18 points off the bench on 7-for-12 shooting while Jerome added 14 points, five rebounds and two assists. Winthrop finished just 6-for-24 behind the arc and committed 15 turnovers that led to 20 points for Longwood.
Winthrop remains at home for its next contest against Charleston Southern on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Longwood returns home for its next three games, beginning with High Point on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as well.