ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop's winning streak came to an end at five games as Radford hit 16 threes on its way to an 82-80 victory, Saturday afternoon in the Winthrop Coliseum.

The loss is the first in eight games at home against conference opponents as Winthrop enters 2017 with a 9-4 mark overall and 1-1 in the league. Radford evens its record to 7-7 overall and is off to a 2-0 start in the Big South. Winthrop will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at High Point for a 7 p.m. tip.

Winthrop faced its largest deficit of the game at 13 points with 9:15 to play in the game after a Justin Cousin triple, but the Eagles were able to rally to make it a one possession game with a little over a minute to play after Joshua Davenport hit a jumper in the lane.

The Eagles got the stop they needed and had a chance to tie or pull within a point with 38 seconds to play. Keon Johnson got a good look from three as his shot rattled out and the Eagles were able to corral the loose ball off the rebound as Roderick Perkins snatched the ball. Perkins flipped the ball back out to Johnson, who had another good look behind the arc. However, Sterling Christy closed out on Johnson's shot and leaped up to just get a fingertip on the shot as it fell short of the rim. Of the miss, Radford's Christy sprung free down the court by himself as Christian Bradford found him alone for a dunk and five-point lead.

Johnson hit a tough three from the right wing with 7.5 seconds to play to cut the deficit down to two points. After a timeout, Radford inbounded the ball and avoid getting fouled as the clock expired. Winthrop had won seven straight over league opponents at home, but this is the Highlanders third win in its last four trips to the Winthrop Coliseum.

Johnson scored a game-high 37 points, just one shy of his career-best. He was 12-for-26 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line as he also pulled down seven boards. He was joined in double-figures by Xavier Cooks with 17 as he also had four blocks and two steals. Duby Okeke recorded four blocks in the game and in the process became the program's all-time leader with 142, passing Billy Houston's mark of 139.

It was a defensive effort by the Eagles that got them back in the game trailing by 11 with 5:41 to play. Winthrop held Radford scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes as it closed the gap to two points with 1:27 to play. Winthrop pressured the ball but Radford found Cousin in transition as he pulled up quickly and drained the team's 16^th three of the game for an 80-75 lead.

The Highlanders were led by Caleb Tanner's 20 points off the bench as he drilled five threes. He was one of four players in double-figures as Cousin had 19 points and four assists. Christian Lutete had 13 points while Ed Polite Jr. had 13 points and four assists. The Highlanders were 16-for-33 behind the arc as they shot 42 percent from the floor and their bench outscored the Eagles bench 39-18.

The Highlanders held a 43-38 advantage at the half thanks to a 7-for-14 effort behind the arc. Radford and Winthrop both shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half.

After 10 lead changes in the opening eight and a half minutes of the game, Radford grabbed a 20-18 lead on a Lutete three and led the rest of the way. Radford used a 10-1 run for an 11-point advantage with 6:33 behind a Tanner four-point play and another three from Lutete.

Winthrop answered that quickly with an 8-0 run starting with a three from Cooks and a then a three-point play from Josh Ferguson. The run was capped by two free throws from Johnson, who is now just one free throw shy of tying James Shuler for the program's career leader in free throws made.

EXTRA DRIBBLE
-Eagles have won 25-of-28 home games, 14-of-16 against league opponents and is 33-5 in its last 38 home games
-Cooks had his second straight game with four blocks as he now has 124 in his career and is just one behind third place all-time
-Johnson made 10 free throws in the game, which is the 10^th time he's done so in his career and second straight game
-Johnson is now four threes behind Michael Jenkins (223) for 4^th place on the program's all-time list
-This was the 21^st game in a row the Eagles have gone to the free throw line for 20 or more attempts