ROCK HILL, SC— Senior Keon Moore tied his career-high of 27 points to help lead Winthrop open Big South Conference play with an 82-72 overtime victory against Longwood, Wednesday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The victory puts the Eagles at 6-6 on the year as they capture their league opener for the second straight season. Longwood falls to 4-10 overall and 0-1 in the league. Winthrop will be back in action looking for its third straight win and a 2-0 start in the Big South when it welcomes High Point on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 1 p.m.

Moore led all scorers with 27 points as he was 8-for-15 from the field and added four rebounds and three steals. Andre Smith added 14 points while Xavier Cooks added 13 points and Joseph Lopez came off the bench for 12 points. Cooks led the team with nine rebounds. Winthrop finished the game shooting 44 percent and was 13-for-28 behind the arc making it the third straight regular season game against a conference opponent it has hit 10 or more threes.

After Longwood overcame a 12-point second half deficit to force overtime, the Eagles took control in the extra period as they outscored the Lancers 17-7. In the overtime, Winthrop was 3-for-5 from the field, 2-for-3 behind the arc and 9-for-12 at the foul line.

Moore opened the scoring in overtime with his sixth three-pointer of the game and two free throws by Lopez gave the Eagles a five-point advantage in the first minute. Midway through the overtime Shaquille Johnson made a three-point play to cut the Eagles lead to 72-70, but the Eagles scored the next eight points to hold off the Lancers.

"At the end of the day the best part of it is we're 1-0 in conference," said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey, whose team won its fifth straight regular season conference contest at home. "It obviously wasn't the prettiest site to behold. Coach (Skip) Prosser calls those tractor-pulls sometimes. But at the end of the day credit our kids for finding a way to get a W."

Trailing by two at the break, Winthrop opened the second half on an 11-0 run and outscored the Lancers 15-1 over the first 6:24 of the half and built a 48-36 lead. Smith started the run with an early three and Moore highlighted the run with three triples, including back-to-back threes that put the Eagles up nine. Longwood's Quincy Taylor ended the team's drought without a field goal to start the half at 6:24.

The Eagles maintained a double-figure lead and led by 12 points with 8:26 to play after a Smith three. Longwood answered as Taylor knocked down a tough jumper and then was immediately whistled for a technical foul. Moore hit the two free throws to put the Eagles back on top by 12 with 7:50 remaining. That was a turning point for the Eagles offense as it sputtered down the stretch, scoring just five points the rest of the way as Longwood worked its way back into the game.

Longwood's Lotanna Nwogbo made two free throws followed by a Taylor three to make it a seven-point game with just over seven minutes left. The Lancers went on an 11-2 run to make it a three-point game with four and a half to play and took the lead with 3:28 on the clock after Johnson scored off his own miss. Cooks answered with a floater in the lane for a 64-63 lead with 2:16 to play.

There was a 10 second different between the game clock and shot clock as the Eagles took possession of the ball with 45 seconds left and leading by one as Longwood defended well but a three-pointer by Smith was snagged by Cooks on the long rebound forcing Longwood to foul. Johnson converted just 1-of-2 at the line for a two-point lead with 19 seconds and then the Lancers tied the game with 14.5 remaining on two Taylor free throws. Johnson took the final shot for the Eagles as he drove the lane looking for the winning basket but his shot was blocked by Johnson leading to overtime.

Longwood's Nwogbo recorded a double-double as he posted 18 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson had 18 for the Lancers while Taylor added 13. The Lancers shot 38 percent in the game, but were 11-for-37 in the second half and overtime combined (30 percent).  

The first half saw six lead changes and a few runs by each team but after 20 minutes the Lancers led the Eagles 35-33.

Longwood raced out to a 6-0 lead behind a Ryan Badowski three and a three-point play by Johnson. Winthrop responded with a 7-0 run to take its first lead as Johnson got the scoring going for Winthrop followed by a layup inside by Lopez set up by a drive-and-dish by Johnson. The run was capped off by a steal and layup from Moore forcing a timeout.

A Johnson basket inside regained the lead for Longwood, which led 14-11 with 12:12 left in the half after back-to-back dunks from Nwogbo and Johnson. The Lancers extended their lead to seven points at 21-14 with 10 and a half to play in the half by using a 7-3 run.

The Eagles responded with five straight behind a Lopez bank shot and Moore triple. Longwood held on to its lead and was in front 26-22 with just under seven minutes left when the Eagles went on an 8-2 run to grab a 30-28 lead with 5:08 left. The run started on a Jarad Scott three and ended with a three from Smith. Longwood grabbed the lead right back on a Badowksi three, but Cooks responded with his first three of the season for a 33-31 advantage with 4:11 to play in the half. Winthrop did not score after the Cooks three, but defensively held the Lancers to four points in the final four minutes to trail by only three at the break.

Winthrop shot 46 percent from the floor and 50 percent behind the arc while Longwood shot 48 percent and was 4-for-10 from three. Each team had eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes and each scored 11 off the miscues.