HAMPTON, VA— Winthrop rallied from 10-points down in the first half to earn an 86-79 victory at Hampton, Saturday afternoon at the HU Convocation Center.
Keon Johnson scored a game-high 24 points to help the Eagles to a second straight win as they are now 6-3 on the year. With the loss, Hampton falls to 2-8 on the season. Winthrop will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. when it hosts Georgia Southern.
Johnson scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and hit a big three with 43 seconds to play that all but sealed the win for the Eagles. Johnson was 6-for-12 from the field and 11-for-13 at the foul line as he paced four Eagles in double-figures.
Bjorn Broman added 14 points behind four triples,
Joshua Davenport had 11 and
Adam Pickett scored 10.
Winthrop led 74-72 with just under three minutes to play after Akim Mitchell drilled a three to cap off a 7-0 run after the Eagles had taken a nine-point lead. Winthrop responded in a big way as
Bjorn Broman hit a three. Davenport came up with a steal and was fouled as he went to the line for a one-and-one and made both for a seven-point advantage with 2:05 to play. Trevond Barnes hit two free throws to make it a two possession game again with a minute and 10 seconds left at 79-74.
The Eagles ran the clock down on the next possession and as it trickled down to the final seconds Johnson let a three go near the top of the key as the shot fell in, out and then back in through the net for the eight-point lead with 43 seconds left.
The Pirates built a 10-point lead early on at 18-8 as they forced five Winthrop turnovers and were 4-for-5 from three. Winthrop fought back with a 12-2 run to tie the game at 20-20 as
Anders Broman capped it off with a three. Hampton responded with a 10-2 run behind Charles Wilson-Fisher threes for a 30-22 lead with around eight and half minutes left in the half. Winthrop outscored the Pirates 17-10 to pull within a point at the half, 40-39.
Winthrop finished the game shooting 51 percent from the floor, 42 percent from three and 73 percent at the foul line. The Eagles connected on 10 threes, which is the 37
th time during
Pat Kelsey's tenure the team has hit at least 10 triples in a game. Winthrop won the battle in the paint scoring 24 points and holding Hampton to just 12.
The Pirates were led by Barnes and Mitchell with 18 points while Lawrence Cooks and Jermaine Marrow each ad 16. Hampton averaged 4.9 threes per game coming into the contest but more than doubled that connecting on 11 (11-for-23). For the game Hampton shot 43 percent from the field, 48 percent from three and were 22-for-25 at the foul line (88 percent).
EXTRA DRIBBLE
-The Broman brothers combined for six threes and hit three consecutive in the second half to help push a three-point lead to a nine-point advantage with seven minutes remaining
-The four threes for
Bjorn Broman ties his career-high for a game and he now has 32 points scored in two career games against Hampton
-Johnson posted his third consecutive 20-point game, which is the 2
nd time in his career he's done so
-Johnson became the fourth player in school history to reach 1,500 career points as he now has 1,510 points and is 56 points away from 3
rd all-time at Winthrop
-Winthrop has now won 20 of its last 26 contests
-During Kelsey's tenure, the Eagles are now 40-6 in games they score 80 or more points
-This is second straight meeting in the series that Winthrop and Hampton each hit 10 or more threes
-Since 2012-13, the Eagles are 7-0 in games in which they and their opponent each hit 10 or more threes
