ROCK HILL, SC— Jimmy Gavin led five Winthrop players in double-figures with 23 in a 92-84 victory over Alabama State, Tuesday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The victory is the second straight for the Eagles who will head into Christmas Day with an 8-3 mark while Alabama State falls to 4-7 on the year. Winthrop will return to action on Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. when it hosts the University of Rio Grande (OH).

With the game tied at 61- apiece with 12:02 to play in the game, Winthrop went on a 14-5 run to open up a 75-66 lead with 8:07 remaining. The run started with the Eagles making 5-of-6 free throws and then Zach Price took a feed from Gavin and dunked while getting fouled in the process. Price converted the free throw for the three-point play and then Price scored on a reverse layup off a dish from Gavin with 8:47 left to push the run to 12-3. That helped the Eagles separate themselves from the Hornets as they even built their lead to as large as 12 with just over five and a half minutes remaining.

Alabama State did cut the deficit to six points with 1:31 to play but the Eagles held strong defensively to secure the win.

Trailing by five points at the break, Winthrop quickly took the lead with a 7-2 spurt to start the second half. Winthrop never trailed from that point as the game was tied on a couple more occasions but the Eagles were relentless offensively. Winthrop shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half, despite going 1-for-9 behind the arc. The Eagles held the Hornets to 39 percent shooting in the second half after they shot 55 percent in the first half. Winthrop wasn't shooting its normal percentage behind the arc, but made it for it by constantly attacking the basket and finished with a 50-34 advantage in the paint.

In addition to his team-high 23 points, Gavin dished out a career-high seven assists and was 8-for-13 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Price finished the game with a career-high 19 points as he was 7-for-10 from the field and was also 5-for-5 at the foul line. Keon Johnson scored 14 points while Xavier Cooks recorded his fifth career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Perkins finished the game with 12 points.

Jamel Waters led all scorers with 24 points as he was 8-for-13 from the field and 6-for-8 behind the arc for the Hornets. He led five players in double-figures as Steve Rogers added 15, Corvon Butler and Bobby Brown had 14 points while Tony Armstrong finished with 11.  

Alabama State started off the game hitting what seemed like everything it put up toward the hoop and it led by nine on a couple of occasions over the first nine and a half minutes. The Eagles trailed 25-16 with 10:31 left in the half when the group of Bjorn Broman, Adam Pickett, Joshua Davenport, Perkins and Price mounted a comeback. The group put the Eagles on a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes for a 26-25 lead, the first lead of the game for the home team. Price started the run with two free throws and then scored inside, which was followed by back-to-back triples from Perkins.

That run turned into a 15-2 run and a four point lead for Winthrop with 6:28 left in the half, 31-27. Winthrop was 5-for-6 from the floor during the run and 3-for-4 at the foul line. Over the next three minute the teams traded baskets until a three-pointer by Rogers sparked an 8-0 run by the Hornets and a 45-37 lead with 2:22 remaining. The Eagles responded with seven straight points to make it a one-point game with just under a minute left before the Hornets outscored the Eagles 5-1 for a 50-45 lead at the break.