De'Andre Adams Memorial Photo Gallery
ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's basketball fell 81-66 in its season opener to Southern Illinois, Friday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
The Eagles (0-1) shot just 30 percent from the floor in the second half as the Salukis were able to take advantage and open up a double-figure lead. Southern Illinois (1-0) shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and 53 percent in the game.
WINTHROP LEADERS
- Xavier Cooks (14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists)
- Jermaine Ukaegbu (9 points, 8 rebounds)
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS LEADERS
- Kavion Pippen (15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals)
- Sean Lloyd (15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals)
FIRST HALF
- The Eagles connected on their first shot as the game remained tight in the early going
- Bjorn Broman hit a three for a 9-8 lead but the Salukis answered with a triple from Aaron Cook to get the lead back
- With the score tied 11-11 with 14:48 left Armon Fletcher drilled a three, which gave the Salukis a lead they wouldn't relinquish
- A Charles Falden three had the Eagles within two points at the 11:13 mark but Eric McGill responded with a three and over the next four minutes Southern Illinois pushed its lead to 11 points (31-20)
- Winthrop pulled within two points with 2:31 left after Xavier Cooks knocked down a couple of free throws and Jermaine Ukaegbu's free throw made it a one-point game with just under two minutes left
- Southern Illinois outscored the Eagles 7-2 the rest of the way for a 47-41 lead at the break
- Winthrop shot 48 percent in the first half while the Salukis shot 53 percent
SECOND HALF
- An Anders Broman three had the Eagles within four points at 51-47 early on but nine straight points by the Salukis pushed their lead to 13 points with 13:11 remaining
- Winthrop made it a single-digit game with nine and half minutes left but a Sean Lloyd three pushed the lead back to 11 and a 10-3 run pushed it to 18 points
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 41 percent and was 18-for-27 at the foul line (67 percent)
- Josh Ferguson, Anders Broman, Bjorn Broman and Charles Falden all had eight points each
- The Eagles were just 4-for-16 behind the arc while the Salukis were 7-for-17 (41 percent)
- Southern Illinois had a 34-32 edge in the paint while the Eagles had 19-18 edge in points off turnovers
- Winthrop finished with nine steals while Southern Illinois had 11
- The Salukis bench outscored the Eagles 26-22
NOTABLES
- The Eagles fall to 5-1 under head coach Pat Kelsey in season openers
- It was just the seventh loss in the last 50 home games
- Ukaegbu's nine points and eight rebounds were both career-highs
UP NEXT
The Eagles fly out to Fort Collins, CO to take on Colorado State on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. (EST). The game will air on 94.3 FM & 104.1 The Bridge.
