BOILING SPRINGS, NC— Winthrop turned a 14-point deficit into a 13-point victory as it defeated Gardner-Webb 71-58 for a fourth straight win, Wednesday night at Paul Porter Arena.

Winthrop extends its winning streak and is now 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big South. Gardner-Webb falls to 10-10 overall and is 5-3 in the league. The Eagles remain on the road as they look for a fifth straight win on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Longwood with tip scheduled for 5 p.m.

With the game tied at 50 in the second half with just a little over nine minutes left in the game, Winthrop scored 11 unanswered points as Xavier Cooks capped off the run with back-to-back threes to push the lead to double-figures. Jimmy Gavin broke the tie with a basket inside and Joshua Davenport followed that up with an and-one on a drive to the basket. Davenport completed the three-point play as he scored 13 of his career-high 17 points in the second half to help the Eagles rally.

Davenport was joined in double-figures by Keon Johnson who also had 17 points as the Eagles finished the game shooting 49 percent behind a second half performance of 63 percent from the floor. The Eagles only finished 4-for-14 behind the arc in the game, but were 3-for-6 in the second half. Davenport finished the game 8-for-10 from the field, pulled down five rebounds and had two blocks.

L'Hassane Niangane had back-to-back possessions where he scored off an offensive rebounds to give Gardner-Webb a 39-32 lead as the Eagles tried to dig into the deficit with 16:54 remaining in the game. At that point, the Eagles outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs 16-2 over the next five and a half minutes to build a 48-41 lead. Davenport pulled the Eagles within one after he scored off a Bjorn Broman steal and then his blocked shot on the other end led to a layup by Johnson that gave Winthrop its first lead of the game.

Gardner-Webb fought back behind three triples from Dylan Poston with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 50 before the Eagles went on the 11-0 run to open up a double-figure lead that they held the remainder of the game.

Poston led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 15 points as he was the only one in double-figures. Rideau finished with nine points and Tyrell Nelson finished with seven points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Gardner-Webb, which shot 42 percent in the first half, finished the game shooting 33 percent. It is the third time in the last four games the Eagles have held their opponents to 35 percent or lower in a game.

Winthrop trailed by as much as 14 points in the first half and endured a five minute scoring drought as it trailed 33-25 at the break. The Eagles ended the half on an 8-2 run to pull within single-digits before the break. Winthrop shot just 35 percent from the floor and committed eight turnovers that led to nine points for the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Johnson knocked down two free throws with 11:47 left in the half before the Eagles missed their next nine shots before Duby Okeke pulled them out of the scoring drought. Okeke scored three consecutive baskets with dunks on all of them to help the team chip away at the 14-point deficit. Okeke ended up scoring seven straight points. Laquincey Rideau answered Okeke's streak with a triple for a 31-17 lead with 5:20 to play but then the Eagles ended the half with their run that was ignited by back-to-back layups by Davenport.