ROCK HILL, SC— Keon Moore scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to lead Winthrop to a 91-70 victory over UNC Asheville, Wednesday night in the Winthrop Coliseum.

The Eagles were hitting on all cylinders as they shot 60 percent from the floor to earn their 15^th win of the season as they are now 15-11 overall and 10-5 in the league. With the loss, Asheville falls to 13-13 overall and 9-6 in the Big South.

Moore reached 20-plus points for the third straight game as he surpassed 900 points in his 55^th game as an Eagle. Senior Andre Smith added 14 points on the night as he became the program's 21^st player to score 1,000 points as he reached the milestone with 10:49 to play in the game with two free throws.

Over the first nine and a half minutes of the second half the Eagles tried to hold off the Bulldogs as they attempted to fight their way back from an 11-point halftime deficit. Asheville pulled within seven points with 12:12 left and then after the Eagles went back up by 12, the Bulldogs cut the lead to 10 points with 10:26 remaining. That's when Moore caught fire and in a very small amount of time as he buried threes on 3-of-4 possessions to put the Eagles up 19 with 8:28 left and then with 7:09 Moore hit his fourth triple in less than two and a half minutes for a 78-56 lead.

Winthrop pushed the lead to as much as 26 points with 5:41 when Keon Johnson finished on a strong drive to the basket. Johnson was one of four Eagles in double-figures with 13 points as he also had four assists. Tevin Prescott finished the night with his second career double-double by scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Asheville had a strong shooting night as well, finishing the game at 59 percent but the Eagles forced 15 turnovers they turned into 27 points. The Bulldogs were just 4-for-14 behind the arc. Jaleel Roberts led the way with a career-high 25 points for Asheville as he set a Big South mark going 12-for-12 from the field. David Robertson was the only other Bulldog in double-figures as he had 14 points.  

It took both teams a couple of possessions to get anything going as the Eagles struck first with back-to-back threes from Smith and Johnson for an early 6-0 lead. Winthrop continued to strike on the offensive end to build a 19-10 lead with 11:55 to play in the half as Prescott converted a three-point play after hauling in an offensive board. After Marcus Neely jumper in the lane cut the lead to seven points, Winthrop reeled off five straight points on a basket inside by Prescott and a Johnson triple for its largest lead of the half at 24-12.

Asheville went on a 14-4 run, including eight straight points, to cut the deficit to two points at 28-26 with a Robertson three-pointer from the corner. Robertson scored the last five points of the run. Johnson responded with a three-pointer but Asheville cut the Eagles' lead to a single point with 5:15 left as Roberts scored inside. Winthrop finished off the final five minutes outscoring the Bulldogs 15-7 for a 46-35 advantage at the break. It was the fifth straight game the Eagles held a lead of 10 points or more at the half.

Both teams shot the ball extremely well from the field in the first half as the Eagles shot 59 percent while Asheville shot 60 percent. Defensively the Eagles forced 10 turnovers by the Bulldogs in the first 20 minutes and converted them into 16 points while Asheville had just two points off of five Winthrop miscues.

Only three regular season games remain as the Eagles hit the road for the next two contests starting with a trip to Farmville, VA on Saturday, Feb. 21 to take on Longwood at 5 p.m.