Box Score Coach Kelsey postgame comments (with Dave Friedman)
Reggie King postgame comments (with Dave Friedman)

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ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop placed four players in double-figures as it finished off the regular season with a 70-61 victory over UNC Asheville on “Senior Day”, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Winthrop avenged its loss at UNC Asheville on Feb. 6 as it ends the regular season with a 13-16 overall record and 6-10 in the Big South. Winthrop will be the 5^th seed from the South Division in next week's championship tournament. Asheville falls to 16-15 overall and 10-6 in the league.

Joab Jerome led Winthrop with 15 points and nine rebounds while Christian Farmer and Andre Smith had 14 points and James Bourne tallied a career-high 13 points.

After leading by four points at the half, Winthrop extended the lead to 41-29 with an 8-0 to start the second half. The Eagles were able to build their lead to double-figures as Asheville came out of the half and missed its first 10 shots and 1-of-13 through the first seven and a half minutes.  

The Bulldogs fought back to a single-digit deficit at 49-40 after Jeremy Atkinson worked his way into the paint for two with 10:17 remaining. Asheville got in a full-court press for most of the second half and after the lead was cut to nine the Eagles got a Smith three followed by two Steven Johnson lay-ups off the press break and led 56-42 with 8:03 to play. Jerome scored on a put back just before time expired on the shot clock to extend the lead to 16 points with just over seven minutes left.

Asheville cut the lead to eight points with 2:22 remaining but Reggie King drove the lane and scored for a 10-point cushion as Winthrop held on to eclipse last season's win total with 13.

Similar to the first meeting this season, Winthrop jumped out to a an early lead and led 12-3 thanks to two Smith three-point baskets as the 12-1 run was capped off by a lay-up by Bourne in transition.

UNC Asheville responded with an 8-0 run to close the gap to one at 12-11 with 12:09 left in the half. The Bulldogs used baskets by Keith Hornsby, Will Weeks and a three-point play by Atkinson to spark the run.

The Eagles withstood the Bulldogs attempt to tie the game or take the lead until 3:44 remained in the half as Sam Hughes knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 24-24. Prior to that the two teams only combined for six points over a six minute span. Farmer pushed the Eagles back in front as he converted three free throws.

After a Bourne lay-up inside off a nice feed from Smith, Asheville's Corey Littlejohn answered with a three-pointer on the other end to tie the game at 29 all with 1:57 on the clock. Winthrop held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way and built a 33-29 lead at the break with another Farmer three that followed Littlejohn's three and a Jerome free throw.

Winthrop, which shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half finished the game at 50 percent as it received 31 points from the bench. The Bulldogs were 32 percent from the floor and 18 percent behind the arc.

Atkinson led all scorers with 17 points as he also had seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Hornsby chipped in with 11 points while Littlejohn had 10 points off the bench.  

Winthrop seniors Torrell Priest, Gideon Gamble, Shola Diop and King were honored prior to the game. In his final game home game as an Eagle, King posted career-highs with six points and seven rebounds as well as dishing out four assists with no turnovers in 29 minutes of action.