ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop ended a two-game skid with a 68-47 victory over Savannah State, Monday evening in men's basketball action at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The Eagles improve to 3-2 on the year as they set their sights on a two-game road trip that begins Wednesday, Dec. 3 in Jacksonville, AL against Jacksonville State at 8 p.m. followed by a 2 p.m. tip in College Park, MD on Saturday, Dec. 6 against Maryland. Savannah State falls to 2-5 on the year as the teams split the season series at 1-1.

"I told our guys in the locker room I was proud of their effort," said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. "We're a program that takes pride in our defense and we put a lot of time and attention to it and it means a lot to us. We're not perfect all the time and we don't guard great all the time but it's important to us. I just told our guys we made mistakes and we had breakdowns, we weren't perfect but I was proud how hard they played, especially on the defensive end."

Sophomore Jarad Scott scored a career-high 15 points as he was 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 behind the arc to lead the Eagles. He was joined in double-figures by sophomore Keon Johnson with 13 and freshman Joseph Lopez's career-best 12 points.

The first eight points of the second half were scored by the Eagles as they used an 11-2 run to open up their largest lead to that point, 44-25 after an Andre Smith three from the corner with 14:47 to play in the game. Winthrop extended that lead to as big as 27 points with 4:21 left in the game.

After a solid performance defensively in the first half, the Eagles continued to work hard and just like the first half, held Savannah State to 29 percent shooting. The Eagles forced 18 turnovers and had nine blocks, which are the most in a single-game under Kelsey and the most by a Winthrop team since Jan. 7, 2010 when the Eagles had 11 blocks against VMI. Winthrop finished the game shooting 45 percent from the floor.

Winthrop trailed 7-3 early before tying the game at 8-8 with 13:27 left in the first half as both teams struggled scoring over the first six and a half minutes. The Eagles then used an 11-0 run for a 19-10 lead with 8:27 to play in the half. Over the course of trailing by four points and taking a nine-point lead, Winthrop outscored the Tigers 16-3.

The 11-0 run started with a three-pointer from Smith as Johnson drove the lane and kicked out to Smith for the open three. Then a couple of possessions later it was Smith's turn to find Johnson open for three as he canned one from the corner and was fouled in the process as he completed the four-point play for a 15-8 lead.  

Savannah State worked the Eagle lead down to four points with 6:09 to play in the first half but back-to-back baskets by Scott pushed the lead back to nine points with just over four minutes left and grew to 13 with 2:22 left as Scott and Tevin Prescott each scored inside.

The lead was cut back down to single-digits with under a minute left after an Alante Fenner three-pointer, but Andre Smith found a wide open Prescott for a dunk with four seconds left in the half to give Winthrop a double-figure lead at the break, 33-23.

Winthrop shot 45 percent from the floor in the half as it was 5-for-11 behind the arc while it held the Tigers to 29 percent and forced nine turnovers.

Smith finished the game with eight points and six assists as he now has at least six assists in three of the team's five games. In addition to his 15 points, Scott pulled down six rebounds while Tevin Prescott led the team with seven boards and also chipped in with seven points.

Savannah State was led by Terel Hall's 15 points as he also finished with two assists and five steals. Fenner was the only other Tiger double-figures with 11 points while Brian Pearson added nine points and five rebounds.