ROCK HILL, SC—Jimmy Gavin scored a game-high 29 points to lead Winthrop to a seventh straight victory as it downed Radford 87-77, Saturday afternoon in Big South Conference men's basketball action.

Winthrop improves to 16-6 on the year overall and has now won six straight league games to improve its conference mark to 8-3. Radford falls to 13-10 overall and is now 6-5 in the Big South. Winthrop looks to extend its winning streak on Tuesday, Feb. 2 when it travels to Lynchburg, VA to take on Liberty at 7 p.m.

Gavin scored 23 of his 29 points in the first half to lead three Eagles in double-figures as Keon Johnson added 16 points and Bjorn Broman scored 14 points. Gavin finished the game 9-for-14 from the floor and was 5-for-10 behind the arc. Johnson, coming off his 36-point performance, struggled from the floor but managed to find other ways to score as he was 10-for-13 at the foul line. Broman was 4-for-5 shooting and 3-for-4 from three as all three of them also combined for eight of the team's 10 assists.

Winthrop led by four points with 8:44 to play in the game when it worked its way to a double-figure lead over the next five minutes when Broman knocked down a floater and was fouled in the act as he completed a three-point play for a 78-66 lead. It started with a Johnson drive to the basket as he slipped a pass to Duby Okeke as the double team came and Okeke flushed it home with a strong dunk. Winthrop pushed the lead to nine points on three occasions before finally reaching double-figures.

The Eagles six-point halftime advantage was erased as Radford tied the game at 54-54 with 16:46 left in the game when Rashun Davis got a fortunate bounce on a long jumper, but the Eagles wouldn't relinquish the lead as the game was tied a couple more times before they started to pull away beginning with the Okeke slam.

The defense for the Eagles improved as the second half went on as they held Radford to 39 percent shooting in the final nine minutes of the game and forced four turnovers. During that time the Eagles were 5-for-9 from the field and 13-for-17 at the foul line.

Brandon Holcomb led the Highlanders with a career-high 18 points was he finished 9-for-10 from the floor and also pulled down six boards. Davis finished with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting as well as a game-high five assists and Cameron Jones added 13.

Winthrop shot 50 percent from the floor for the third straight game and the seventh time in the last eight games. The Eagles attempted 40 free throws in the game, finishing 73 percent from the line. Radford finished the game shooting 49 percent from the floor and a 40-22 advantage in the paint.

Gavin hit a fade away jumper on the baseline as the ball went through the hoop with just seconds remaining to give the Eagles a 48-42 advantage at the half.

Each team got off to a slow start offensively as the Eagles led 5-4 after Johnson knocked down three free throws with 15:42 left in the half. Winthrop started to knock down shots and found itself with a 10-point lead with just over 12 and a half remaining in the half after two more Johnson free throws. The Eagles used a 9-2 run to open up the double-figure lead behind back-to-back triples from Bjorn Broman and Gavin.

Winthrop was able to hold a 2-3 possession lead over the next five minutes and then Highlanders pulled within two points at 34-32 behind a Cameron Jones three and two triples from Christian Lutete. After Lutete's second three in that stretch made it a two-point game, Gavin pulled up and knocked down a deep three from the wing, forcing a timeout by Radford. The teams went back-and-forth the next few minutes and then the Eagles pushed their lead to six points at the break.

Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half as Radford shot 57 percent and the Eagles shot 54 percent. Radford was 6-for-11 from three while the Eagles were 9-for-16 behind the arc.