ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop will look for a second straight road victory when it travels to Boiling Springs, NC on Saturday, Jan. 10 to take on Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena. The game will air on ESPN3.
Road trips are always better when you win the first one and the Eagles did just that Thursday night with a 57-56 win at Presbyterian College. That was the first of three straight on the road for Winthrop, which enters the game with a 7-7 record overall and a 2-1 league mark. The Eagles have won three of the last four games and face a Gardner-Webb team that is 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the league. The Runnin' Bulldogs have won four of the last five games and coming off a double-overtime win over Radford at home.
This will mark the 21
st meeting all-time between Winthrop and Gardner-Webb as the history dates back to the second game ever played in Winthrop's program. On Nov. 17, 1978 the Eagles hosted Gardner-Webb in its first ever home game, but fell 113-77. The Eagles hold a 12-8 advantage in the all-time series, but have lost three straight and four of the last six.
Winthrop entered Thursday's game as the league's top scoring team, but it was defense that won the game over the Blue Hose. The Eagles held PC scoreless the final 2:27 of the game after it took a 56-53 lead. At the end of the first half the Eagles held the Blue Hose without a point in the final 4:12 of the first half and the first 1:36 of the second half for a total of 5:48. Winthrop turned 15 PC turnovers into 21 points as well.
Senior
Keon Moore led the team in scoring again with 15 points and still leads the team on the season with 18.3 ppg. Moore is 18-for-36 behind the arc in the last four games and averaging 22.5 ppg in that span. Moore faces a Gardner-Webb team he enjoyed a lot of success against in 2013-14 with 23.5 points per game as well as 7.5 rebounds in two meetings.
For the second straight game, redshirt freshman
Duby Okeke made a big impact off the bench as he posted career-highs with 13 points and five blocks. His dunk with 1:22 left in the game provided the game-winning points for the Eagles at PC. Okeke finished with five blocks, but was a force inside altering several other inside shots from the Blue Hose. The last two games Okeke has averaged 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks.
Senior
Andre Smith, who is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 per game managed 12 points in the win over PC as well as dishing out six assists. The six assists were the sixth time this season he hit that mark or better and is now averaging 4.9 on the year. He now has double-figures in five of the last six games.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are enjoying an impressive season and are one of three schools in the Big South with 10 or more wins. Gardner-Webb features the league's top offense at 75.9 points and are ranked 10
th in scoring defense at 73.4.
The Big South has had some marquee victories this season against schools from the Power 5 conferences and Gardner-Webb has two of those. Just days after the Eagles won at Clemson, Gardner-Webb defeated the Tigers in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands at the 2014 Paradise Jam. On Dec. 22 the Runnin' Bulldogs went to Lafayette, Indiana and handed Purdue an 89-84 loss.
Gardner-Webb began league play on the road with a win at PC and a loss at Asheville but returned home to defeat Radford on Thursday. Gardner-Webb is a perfect 6-0 at home this season, averaging 85.5 points while shooting 51 percent from the floor, 38 percent from three and 57 percent from the line. In six home games the Runnin' Bulldogs have made an average of 15 free throws and attempting an average 25.7 in those games.
Winthrop fans that don't get ESPN3 can follow the game at 104.1thebridge.com as Dave Friedman will provide the play-by-play.
