Postgame With Head Coach Pat Kelsey/Dave Friedman
ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop overcame an 11-point first half deficit and held on for a 76-73 victory over UNC Asheville, Thursday evening in the Winthrop Coliseum.

The game came down to a single-possession for a third straight regular season meeting as the Eagles improved to 14-4 on the year and 6-1 in the Big South. With the loss, Asheville falls to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in the league. Winthrop will have a quick turnaround as it heads to Lynchburg, VA to take on Liberty on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a battle for first place.

Xavier Cooks posted his 15^th career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds as he also had three assists and two blocks. He was joined in double-figures by Roderick Perkins with 17 and Anders Broman with 12 points off the bench. Cooks hit a three at the 9:31 mark of the second half for a five point and in the process became the program's 24th player to reach 1,000 points in a career.

After playing two one-point games in 2015-16 during the regular season this game also came down to the final possession as Asheville had a look to tie the game, but MaCio Teague's three-point attempt from the wing didn't fall as Perkins boarded the miss in the corner and time expired.

The defense for the Eagles played a big role in the second half as it held the Bulldogs to just 27 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes and held them without a field goal for a span of 11 minutes and 16 seconds. That effort helped the Eagles turn a nine-point deficit in the second half into an eight point lead with 6:59 to play. That lead disappeared with an 11-0 run by the Bulldogs in the span of a minute and a half.   

With the game tied at 70-70 with 3:14 to play, the defense stepped up once again as Keon Johnson stole the ball from Teague, who then fouled Johnson that was called an intentional foul. Johnson made both free throws and the Eagles maintained possession and took advantage as Duby Okeke threw one down off a nice feed from Cooks for a four-point lead. Asheville brought it back to within a point at 74-73 with 1:53 left. On the ensuing possession, Johnson fired a three as the shot clock was expiring as Okeke boarded the miss and jammed it home for the 76-73 lead that held up as the final.

Asheville was led by Ahmad Thomas' game-high 27 points as he also had six rebounds and three steals. Teague finished with 15 points and six rebounds while Raekwon Miller added 13 off the bench.

Winthrop and the Bulldogs both finished the game shooting 42 percent as the Eagles were 30 percent (9-for-30) beyond the arc and Asheville was 33 percent (6-for-18).

The Eagles shot just 39 percent from the floor in the first half compared to Asheville's 52 percent. After trading the lead early on Asheville built a consistent two possession lead and held it for most of the first 10 minutes but the Eagles came back to tie the game at 20-20 on an Anders Broman triple.

Asheville pushed its lead to 11 points with 2:14 left in the half before the Eagles cut the deficit down to five behind a Johnson three and a couple of free throws from Joshua Davenport.