ROCK HILL, SC— Keon Moore scored 17 points and
Keon Johnson added 14 to lead Winthrop to a 96-51 victory over Mars Hill, Tuesday evening in non-conference men's basketball action at the Winthrop Coliseum.
With the win the Eagles even their record to 4-4 on the year while Mars Hill drops to 5-4. Winthrop will be off for the next seven days to concentrate on exams before the team is back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at Auburn at 9 p.m.
Moore and Johnson were the only Eagles in double-figures but there were nine players that scored seven or more points.
Tevin Prescott and
Xavier Cooks each had seven points and 10 rebounds. Both of those numbers are career-highs for Cooks.
Following the game head coach
Pat Kelsey spoke about how hard his team competed and how it was a focal point prior to the game. "Our guys compete, typically all the time but that was a big point of emphasis today. We talked about it at the shoot around and we talked about it at the pregame. I told them every shot is not going to go in. They're going to make a lot of mistakes. We're going to make a lot of mistakes and sure as heck I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. But the one thing we're going to do for 40 full minutes is compete and I thought our guys did that. They played hard."
After Mars Hill made it a 19-point game with 10:39 to play, Winthrop responded by building a 31-point lead over the next five minutes and eventually pushed it to 40 points with just under two minutes remaining.
Derrick Henry scored eight points during that stretch and
Joseph Lopez chipped in with five, including buckets inside on back-to-back possessions.
Winthrop shot 52 percent from the floor despite going just 4-for-18 behind the arc and ended with a 30-5 advantage in points off turnovers. The team's 13 steals ties the most for the team under Kelsey, which the team had the same number against Savannah State on Nov. 20.
Patrick Monroe led Mars Hill in scoring with 17 points as the Lions were held to 30 percent shooting from the floor and 7-for-26 from three. Kevin Haynes added nine points and four rebounds off the bench.
Johnson opened up the scoring for both teams with a three as it sparked a 7-0 start for the Eagles. Johnson hit two free throws for a 5-0 lead and the run was capped off by a steal by Moore leading to a flush on the other end.
Mars Hill responded with back-to-back threes on consecutive possessions to pull within a point with 16:58 to play in the half. Winthrop scored the next six points to push the lead back to seven points at the 13:16 mark. Winthrop kept the pressure on offensively and pushed the lead to 11 points with 10:27 left after a runner off glass by Johnson. However, Monroe hit his third and fourth threes of the game on back-to-back possessions to cut the Winthrop lead to five points.
But just like that the Eagles pushed the lead back to double-figures and to the largest lead of the game to that point at 34-19. An offensive stick back by
Xavier Cooks made it an 11-point lead and then Moore scored four straight points as he forced a timeout after a steal and dunk with 6:30 to play in the half. Mars Hill was within 14 points with 4:25 left in the first half after a three-point play from Brandon McCarter, but the Eagles ended the half on a 14-6 run behind six points from Johnson.
Winthrop shot 53 percent from the floor in the first half while holding the Lions to 37 percent. The Eagles were just 1-for-7 from three after hitting their first attempt of the game. The Eagles took full advantage of the Lions 14 turnovers converting them into 16 points.
