HIGHLIGHTS

RIVERDALE, NY—Joshua Davenport scored a career-high 22 points and Keon Johnson dropped in 22 points as well to lead Winthrop to a 94-81 victory at Manhattan College, Tuesday morning in the Preseason NIT as part of the ESPN Tip-Off Marathon.

Davenport was 16-for-18 from the free throw line as he fell two shy of the school record for makes at the charity stripe in a single-game. He was also 3-for-6 from the field while Johnson finished 11-for-12 from the free throw line to pace the Eagles who were 36-for-42 (86 percent).

The win gives the Eagles a 2-0 start for the fourth straight season as they will look for a third straight win on Friday, Nov 18 when they travel to Florida State for a 7 p.m. tip as they continue their Preseason NIT slate. With the loss, Manhattan is now 0-2 on the season.

Winthrop opened the second half on a 9-0 run and never looked back as it pushed its lead to as much as 19 points with 7:48 left. Every time Manhattan tried to chip away at the lead the Eagles responded. The Jaspers cut the lead to 11 points with a little over five minutes remaining but Duby Okeke answered with a dunk on the other end off a nice feed from Davenport. Manhattan pulled within 11 points three more times but that was as close as it got.

The Eagles took their first lead of the game at 21-20 on Xavier Cooks' basket inside and then took the lead for good a few minutes later on a Bjorn Broman free throw followed by two free throws from Johnson and a triple from Anders Broman for a 28-22 lead. Winthrop pushed the lead to double-figures on another Anders Broman three and finished the first half on an 8-2 lead for a 53-44 lead at the break.

In a game that saw both teams combine for 68 fouls, the two teams were a combined 64-for-85 at the foul line. Winthrop played some unselfish basketball, finishing with 20 assists on 24 field goals made.

The Eagles finished the game shooting 42 percent from the floor and knocked down 10 threes on the day. They forced 16 turnovers which they turned into 19 points. Both teams had to turn to their benches for key minutes with so many fouls and both benches responded as the Eagles got 41 from their bench while the Jaspers got 39.

Davenport and Johnson were joined in double-figures by Anders Broman with 15 points and Roderick Perkins with 12. Okeke finished with a game-high nine rebounds as he also chipped in with six rebounds and three blocks.

Manhattan shot 40 percent for the game, 28 percent from three as Zavier Turner led five players in double-figures. Thomas Capuano had 12 points while Calvin Crawford, Tyler Wilson and Aaron Walker Jr. each had 10 points.

-Extra Dribble-
-Davenport's 16 free throws were two shy of the school record of 18 set by Mark Hailey and James Shuler
-The 36 free throws by Winthrop were three shy of the school record set on Nov. 27, 1989 vs. St. Francis
-Anders Broman, who sat out last season after transferring, hit his first three-point basket since Mar. 7, 2015 against Western Illinois (a total of 619 days in between)
-Davenport and Johnson are the first duo to score 20 or more each since Jimmy Gavin (25) and Xavier Cooks (20) did so on Feb. 11, 2016 vs. Longwood
-Eagles have now started season 2-0 in four of the five seasons with Pat Kelsey as head coach
-The 94 points were the most by a Winthrop team on the road in a non-conference game that ended in regulation since winning 101-93 at Central Connecticut on Jan. 4, 1993
-Duby is now two blocks behind Josh Grant (125) for second in career blocks at Winthrop
-Keon Johnson moved into sixth place on Winthrop's all-time scoring list with 1,385 and is now two points behind 5th (Torrell Martin-1,387)