Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop scorched the nets in the second half shooting 80 percent as it ended a two-game skid with a 100-72 victory over Reinhardt University, Sunday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The Eagles improved to 5-6 on the year as they shot 67 percent in the game, which is the most under head coach Pat Kelsey as the team put up 56 second half points. It is the first time since Nov. 26, 2011 that a Winthrop team shot 60 percent or better in a game.

This was the final non-conference contest for the Eagles as they head into Big South action beginning Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. when they take on Longwood at the Winthrop Coliseum.

"Your concern as a coach in a game like this is when guys are getting ready to get on airplanes and jump in cars and drive and fly other places in the country to go visit family and celebrate the holidays," said Kelsey, who coached in his 75^th game at the helm of the Eagles. "You worry about their readiness and their energy level and focus on the game at hand. I told our guys in the locker room afterwards I was proud of them in that regard. I think it was great respect for our opponent. The guys were locked in and we took care of business and proud of them in that regard."

Winthrop placed five players in double-figures led by senior guards Keon Moore and Andre Smith who had 18 each. Smith also had five assists while each had two steals. Freshman Xavier Cooks had a career-best 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting as he also had six rebounds and tied his career-high of three blocks. Sophomore Keon Johnson added 12 points off the bench while junior Tevin Prescott also had 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

At the half the Eagles led by 12 points and maintained a double-figure lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half but despite the hot shooting wasn't pulling away. Reinhardt hit two free throws with 10:24 left in the game to make it an 11-point game, but the Eagles started to pull away behind five quick points from Smith as he dropped in a three and then converted two free throws for a 74-59 lead. Winthrop went on to outscore Reinhardt 32-15 over the final 10 minutes of the game. Smith led the charge in the second half with 13 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes.

The lead went from 17-to-25 in the blink of an eye as Joshua Davenport scored in the lane and then Moore hit threes on back-to-back possessions for an 87-62 lead and the Eagles cruised from there.

After going 3-for-8 behind the arc in the first half, Winthrop was 7-for-10 in the second half as it finished 10-for-18 (56 percent). It is the 14^th time under Kelsey the team has connected on 10 or more threes in a game.

Winthrop held Reinhardt to 38 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent behind the arc. Reinhardt was led by Corey Ricks with 21 points as Perie Finley finished with 12, Matt Porter added 11 and Justin Zachary finished with 10.

The game was back-and-forth to start as Reinhardt led 6-2 early on after three-pointers from Zachary and Porter. Winthrop scored the next six points behind a couple of baskets inside from Cooks and Duby Okeke for an 8-6 lead. The lead changed hands a couple more times and the Eagles trailed 17-15 with 10:12 to play in the half before going on an 11-0 run.

Davenport got the run started with a short jumper in the lane to tie the game and then Cooks put the Eagles ahead 19-17 as he got behind the Reinhardt defense and Smith found him for the easy two. Moore's three from the win made it seven straight points and then Smith made it nine straight points when he came up with another steal and went the distance to score a lay-up for a 26-17 lead.

The run ended with a Finley basket inside but then the Eagles scored the next four points to outscored Reinhardt 15-2 over a span of 5:36 for a 30-19 lead with just under six left in the half.

Reinhardt cut the deficit to single-digits at eight points twice before the half, but the Eagles pushed the lead to double-figures by the half to lead 44-32. Winthrop shot 56 percent from the floor and was 3-for-8 behind the arc while holding Reinhardt to 32 percent shooting and 5-for-15 from three.