Box Score
www.winthropphotos.com
ROCK HILL, SC— In a game that had 49 fouls, 59 free throws, 14 ties and 15 lead changes, the Winthrop men's basketball team survived a tough battle to earn a 75-65 victory over South Division leader Coastal Carolina, Wednesday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.

With the win the Eagles improve to 15-11 overall and 8-5 in the league as they try and remain near the top of the South Division. Coastal Carolina falls to 16-11 overall and still remains in first place of the South Division at 9-4.

Winthrop placed all five starters in double-figures led by Andre Smith's 16 points. Larry Brown finished with his second career double-double as he had 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

The game was tied for the final time of the night with 7:10 to play as Elijah Wilson made two free throws to make it 57-57. After getting a stop on the defensive end, the Chanticleers had a chance to regain the lead as Tristian Curtis stepped to the foul line. Curtis couldn't convert on either free throw and the Eagles responded with a Keon Johnson straight away triple. From there the Eagles outscored the Chanticleers 15-8 the rest of the way.

Following the Johnson three, Brown had a big follow as he tipped in a runner off the glass by Keon Moore. The play came after Coastal was called for a flagrant one foul, giving the ball back to Winthrop after Brown attempted two free throws. Brown missed both of the free throws, but followed Moore to the basket for the tip that put Winthrop up five points with 4:50 remaining.

Warren Gillis, who finished with a game-high 25 points, cut the Eagles lead to three after two free throws with 4:30 to play. Josh Davenport, who gave the Eagles a solid 13 minutes off the bench, put the Eagles back up by five as he played a little give-and-go with Brown and cut to the basket for a lay-up. After each team turned the ball over and missed a couple of shots, Coastal looked to make it a single-possession game again but Brown made one of the biggest plays of the night. Brown looked as if he was going to get back on defense, but turned and jumped in the passing lane as Badou Diagne made an outlet pass. Brown came up with the steal and quickly scored as Diagne challenged the shot and Winthrop led 66-59 with 2:05 left.

Another big play came after two more Gilllis free throws as Smith buried a three from the corner with just over a minute to play for an eight-point advantage.

The second half came down to free throw shooting and depth as each team started to get into foul trouble. Both teams were in the bonus by the 14:59 mark of the second half. Winthrop was 19-for-22 from the line in the second half and Coastal was 16-for-22. For the game, the Eagles were 22-for-27 (82 percent) while Coastal was 24-for-32 (75 percent). After shooting 65 percent in the first half, Winthrop held Coastal to just 32 percent in the second and 1-for-8 behind the arc.

The Chanticleers led at the half and held the lead until 17:28 left in the game as the Eagles made a 7-2 run to start the second half that led to a Smith three that tied the game at 38-38. Coastal tied the game on several occasions and even held a brief lead with 11:03 and 10:30 on the clock but each time Winthrop responded.

The game was back-and-forth over the first 20 minutes and Coastal Carolina led 36-31 at the break. The Chanticleers had gone up by seven points with 4.7 seconds left in the half after two Warren Gillis free throws, but the Eagles called timeout and scored on a Josh Davenport lay-up as time expired. Jerome received the inbound pass near half court as he dribbled hard toward the basket and laid off a pass to Davenport who released the shot just in time as he kissed it off the glass from the baseline.

Winthrop kept the game close despite the Chanticleers shooting 65 percent from the field as it forced nine turnovers. Winthrop shot 46 percent in the first half but just 33 percent behind the arc. The game saw 10 lead changes in the first half and the score was tied five times.

The Eagles trailed 12-8 after Gillis scored inside off an inbound play at the baseline. Winthrop turned up the defense as it forced Coastal Carolina to turn the ball over on four of its next seven possessions as it took the lead 17-4 behind a 9-2 run. The run began when Brandon Vega knocked down a long jumper followed by a baseline drive and score by Smith.

After Smith's drive tied the game at 12-12, Eric Smith came away with a steal and went the length of the court for a lay-up to put Coastal back on top. Moore responded with a three as Vega drove and flipped a pass out to Moore on the wing and he buried it. Gillis cut the Eagles lead to one after a jumper in the lane before Jerome put Winthrop up 20-17 with a three-point play.

The Chanticleers responded with a Josh Cameron three and then after a turnover they took the lead of two free throws by Gillis, 21-20 with 5:48 to play in the half. Moore scored five straight points for the Eagles including his third three of the half for a 25-23 lead. El Hadji Ndieguene tied the game at 25-25 with a short hook shot from the baseline. From that point Coastal outscored the Eagles 11-6 for the lead at the break.

Moore finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds while Jerome had 11 and Johnson added 10. Jerome also chipped in with eight rebounds and three assists while Brown tied his career-high with three blocks.

Gillis led all scorers as he was 14-for-15 from the foul line and also added two assists and two steals. He was joined in double-figures by Wilson, who was 6-for-11 from the field.

Winthrop will head to Boiling Springs, NC for its final road game of the regular season when it faces Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22. Coastal Carolina will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Asheville, NC to take on UNC Asheville at 2 p.m.