CLINTON, SC – It was a good start to a three-game road trip as Winthrop held on for a 57-56 win over Presbyterian College, Thursday night in Big South Conference action at the Ross E. Templeton Center.
Redshirt freshman
Duby Okeke's dunk with 1:22 was the last basket for either team as it put the Eagles in front for good. Okeke worked himself free near the basket and
Andre Smith ripped a pass into Okeke who finished with a flush as he scored a career-high 13 points off the bench as he also had four rebounds and a career-best five blocks.
The Eagles even their record at 7-7 on the year and improve to 2-1 in the Big South while Presbyterian College falls to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in the league. Winthrop will be back in action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when it travels to Boiling Springs, NC to take on Gardner-Webb. That game will air on ESPN3.
Keon Moore, who finished with a team-high 15 points, knocked down two free throws with 5:19 for a three-point advantage for the Eagles. PC answered with six straight points to take a 56-53 lead with 2:29. The 6-0 run started with a Jordan Downing jumper followed by a DeSean Murray basket inside and capped off by two free throws from Downing. Freshman
Xavier Cooks delivered a big basket for the Eagles as he drove the lane and scooped in a lay-up to pull within one with 2:11 remaining.
After forcing a turnover on the other end of the floor, the Eagles took the lead on the Okeke dunk. There were a couple of good looks for PC in the final minute beginning with Austin Anderson's open look from a step or two inside the three-point line that hit the back iron. Okeke nearly put the Eagles up three as his tip-in attempt off a Smith three-pointer just rolled out. That set up PC with a chance to win the game in the final seconds but his jumper hit the rim and bounced high and off the shot clock giving the Eagles the ball at the baseline with 4.1 seconds to play as the Eagles were able to run out the clock to seal the win.
Murray led all scorers with 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while William Truss scored 15 and added 10 rebounds to lead the Blue Hose. Downing finished with nine points on 3-for-13 shooting as the Blue Hose shot 42 percent from the floor in the game, but were 11-for-12 from the foul line.
Moore and Okeke were joined in double-figures by Smith, who had 12 points, six assists and three steals. The Eagles finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field, 27 percent from three and 89 percent at the line (8-for-9).
PC had a 36-26 advantage on the glass and finished with 16 second chance points, but the Eagles defense forced 15 turnovers they converted to 21 points. The Eagles bench played a key role outscoring the Blue Hose 22-2.
The first half saw seven lead changes and the score was tied five times but the Eagles held the lead at the break, 29-26. The Eagles shot 37 percent but were pretty well balanced in scoring inside and out with 15 points behind the arc and 10 points in the paint. PC shot 41 percent in the first half, but the Eagles held the Blue Hose scoreless over the final 4:12.
The Blue Hose raced out to a quick 6-0 lead and then led 8-3 after Truss knocked down a baseline jumper. Winthrop answered with an 8-3 run behind two three-pointers from Moore to tie the game at 11-11with 13:41 left in the half. The remaining 13 minutes and 41 seconds were back-and-forth with the Eagles grabbing a couple of three-point leads before holding that advantage at the break.
Winthrop had lost its previous five road games after opening its road slate of 2014-15 with a win at Clemson on Nov. 17.
