ROCK HILL, SC— Junior Tevin Prescott's lay-up with 3.7 seconds left lifted Winthrop to a 71-68 victory over Gardner-Webb, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The win keeps the Eagles in the race for the Big South Conference title at 9-5 in the league as they are now 14-11 overall. Gardner-Webb falls to 16-11 on the year and 8-6 in the Big South. Winthrop will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 18 when it hosts UNC Asheville at 7 p.m.

Winthrop trailed by one point as it got a defensive stop for a chance to take the lead. The Eagles called timeout with 16 seconds left to draw up a play. Senior Keon Moore got the ball in his hands but was being defending closely as he then dished the ball off to Prescott cutting to the basket as he scored on a reverse lay-up to take the lead.

After a timeout by the Runnin' Bulldogs following the Prescott basket, senior Andre Smith came up with a steal on the inbounds pass and proceeded to know down both free throws for a three-point advantage. Gardner-Webb's last attempt with 2.3 seconds remaining hit off the back iron as Dylan Poston was set up for a good look from three after a pass from midcourt by Jerome Hill.

"Coming off the loss the other day it was a miserable locker room to be in," said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey referring to the team's last second loss at High Point. "It's probably as low as I've seen them all year long. To respond back with two great days of practice, have a great start in the first half and then face more adversity when the lead sort of dwindled and they ended up tying it up. Having the wherewithal to stand their ground and find a way to get a W is a sign of growth of this team. I'm just really, really proud of them bouncing back after such a down game."

Moore led all scorers with 27 points as he was 6-for-10 from the floor, 4-for-5 from three and 11-for-13 at the foul line. He was one of three Eagles in double-figures as Keon Johnson and Jarad Scott added 10 each. Cooks had a solid game for the Eagles with eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks. As a team the Eagles shot 37 percent from the floor, 47 percent from three and were 21-for-28 at the line.

The Eagles led by 16 at the half and scored the first basket of the second half for an 18-point advantage but Hill led Gardner-Webb back into the game as he scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and with 1:30 to play the game was tied. Prescott scored 16 points in the second half but then Gardner-Webb reeled off 11 straight points to cut the deficit to seven points in just shy of three minutes. Moore responded with a three-pointer to put the Eagles back on top by nine points but Gardner-Webb scored six straight to make it a one possession game with 15:26 remaining.

Over the next 12 minutes Winthrop continued to hold off the Runnin' Bulldogs until Tyler Strange connected on a three followed by a runner off glass in transition by Poston to tie the game with 2:39 to play. Cooks put the Eagles back in front with two free throws before Adonis Burbage drained a three for Gardner-Webb's first lead since 12:31 of the first half.

Hill finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks while Tyrell Nelson also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Davis was the third Gardner-Webb player in double-figures with 15. Gardner-Webb finished the game shooting 35 percent and was just 6-for-27 from three (22 percent) while going 16-for-18 at the foul line.

Winthrop used a 10-0 run midway through the first half for a 23-14 lead following two free throws by Nelson that put Gardner-Webb in front, 14-13 with 12:31 on the clock. The run started with a basket inside by Cooks off a nice feed from Joshua Davenport and then Moore reeled off seven straight points to highlight the run.

A basket by Jarvis Davis with 6:10 left in the half ended a drought of seven minutes and six seconds without a field goal for Gardner-Webb as its only points in that span came from the foul line when Nelson hit the two for a 14-13 advantage. After the Davis bucket, Winthrop scored the next seven points for a 30-16 lead as Scott ignited the run with a three from the wing and then converted two free throws while a floater by Cooks capped it off.

The Runnin' Bulldogs cut the deficit to eight points with 2:44 left in the half after Hill made two free throws, but Winthrop finished off the half outscoring Gardner-Webb 9-1 for a 16-point advantage as Moore hit a deep three with four seconds left for a 40-24 lead.

Winthrop shot 46 percent in the first half and was 5-for-9 from three while holding Gardner-Webb to 24 percent shooting from the field and just 1-for-13 behind the arc.