BUIES CREEK, NC—Jimmy Gavin and
Xavier Cooks combined for 40 points to help second-seeded Winthrop to a 67-53 victory over #10 Presbyterian College, Friday evening in the Big South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.
Winthrop is now 22-8 on the year as it advances to Saturday's semifinal game against #3 Coastal Carolina/#6 Gardner-Webb at 3 p.m. It is the fifth straight year the Eagles have opened their tournament play with a victory. PC's season comes to an end as it finishes with an 11-20 mark.
Cooks opened up the second half scoring the first nine points of the half for Winthrop, working the Eagles to a 33-24 just three and a half minutes in. Winthrop extended its lead to 41-26 after Cooks whipped a long pass to
Keon Johnson in front of the Winthrop bench and he drained a three from the corner.
PC responded with a 12-2 run that started with a Will Adams drive and score followed by a three-point play by DeSean Murray. The lead was cut to 43-34 when Darius Moore hit a three from the corner and then Markus Terry scored the final four points of the run. PC pulled within five points after Ed Drew scored inside but
Jimmy Gavin answered with a three and then pushed the lead back to 11 points at 53-42 when he hit a trail three from the wing. Gavin wasn't done as he hit his third triple in a span of just over two minutes as Winthrop led 56-44 with 5:41 to play in the game. From that point the Eagles withstood the pressure from Presbyterian College to earn the double-figure win.
Cooks finished the game 6-for-11 from the field as he also pulled down seven boards to go along with four assists and three blocks. Gavin finished with a team-high 21 points as he hit five threes in the game and also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds. Johnson added 10 points as he extended his streak of games in double-figures to 33 games.
Winthrop finished the game shooting 39 percent from the floor (45 percent in the second half), 29 percent from three but did win the rebounding battle 42-40. The Eagles tied their season-high of 19 fast break points.
Murray led the Blue Hose with a game-high 24 points on 11-for-24 shooting as he also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Drew joined Murray in double-figures as he posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Eagles held PC to just 33 percent shooting from the floor, 19 percent from three and blocked eight shots, which tied a Winthrop record for a Big South Tournament game.
The Blue Hose raced out to an early 8-0 lead as Murray got things going with back-to-back jumpers to start the run. Winthrop responded with a 7-0 run and in the process held the Blue Hose without a point for nearly six minutes until Janell Jenkins hit two free throws and then Drew knocked down a free throw line jumper. Winthrop fought back to tie the game at 12-12 after a Cooks floater after the Eagles worked hard to board a couple of offensive rebounds.
Trailing 12-16 after Murray scored inside with 5:50 to play in the half, the Eagles went on a 12-0 run and outscored the Blue Hose 12-3 to lead 24-19 at the break. Gavin started the run 1-for-2 at the free throw line followed by a
Duby Okeke dunk to make it a one-point game. Cooks then spun in the lane and kissed a short jumper off glass to give the Eagles their first lead of the game at 17-16 with a little over four minutes left. On the ensuing possession for PC Gavin came away with a steal and dished the ball off to
Joshua Davenport for the basket and the foul as he completed the three-point play for a four-point lead. The lone PC bucket came at the end of the first half as Jenkins hit a three from the corner as time expired.
