ROCK HILL, SC—Xavier Cooks led five players in double-figures with 22 points to lead Winthrop to a 104-49 victory over Mars Hill, Tuesday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP LEADERS
MARS HILL LEADERS
- Cody Hylton (12 points, 3 rebounds)
- Luke Van-Rijn (7 points, 4 rebounds, block, steal)
FIRST HALF
- Winthrop scored the first nine points of the game as Xavier Cooks scored five of the nine
- Leading 11-3, Cooks scored back-to-back buckets topped off with a drunk after a steal by Nych Smith
- With 6:14 left in the half Mars Hill cut the Winthrop lead to 12 points after a three-pointer from Brandon Reeves
- Eagles responded with a 7-0 spurt as Anders Broman scored the final five with a triple and two free throws
- Winthrop pushed its first half lead to 20 points as Anders Broman completed a three-point play for a 44-23 lead
- The final eight points of the half went to the Eagles powered by threes from Kyle Zunic and Smith, who hit his with about four seconds left
- The Eagles made six of their final eight shots of the half as they outscored Mars Hill 17-6 in the final 3:58
- Mars Hill had eight first half turnovers that the Eagles turned into 14 points (14-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes)
- Cooks scored 18 first-half points on 6-for-10 shooting
SECOND HALF
- From the 17:17 mark to the 11:54 mark of the half the Eagles knocked down 9-of-12 shots to push their lead from 36 to 50
- Defensively the Eagles held Mars Hill to just three points over the first five and a half minutes
- The Eagles turned up the defense in the second half, holding Mars Hill to 16 percent shooting from the floor
- Winthrop led by as much as 60 points in the second half (3:37 remaining)
- After five threes in the first half, the Eagles knocked down 10 in the second half
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Eagles assisted on 24-of-36 field goals and now have 44 assists in the last two games
- Winthrop was 17-for-20 at the foul line (85%) as Cooks and the Broman brothers were a combined 11-for-12
- Nych Smith finished the game with 10 points, a career-high six assists and two steals
- Josh Ferguson had a solid game off the bench with eight points, nine rebounds and two assists
- Mitch Hill played the final seven minutes of the game and pulled down a career-high six rebounds
- For the game Winthrop held Mars Hill to 21 percent shooting while the Eagles shot 51 percent
NOTABLES
- Xavier Cooks moved into 9th on Winthrop's all-time scoring list, passing Mike Gaither
- The Eagles have combined for 34 three-pointers in the last two games (34-for-65)
- The bench scored 48 points and now has combined for 100 points in the last two games
- Cooks led all scorers with 22 points, the 18th 20-point game of his career
- Winthrop scored 100-plus points in back-to-back games for the second time under Pat Kelsey as they scored 102 against Hampton and then 106 against Truett-McConnell to start the 2015-16 season
- In the last 62 wins by the Eagles, 39 of them have been by double-figures (63%)
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
The Eagles will be back in action the day after Thanksgiving as they head to Auburn, AL on Friday, Nov. 24 for a 7 p.m. contest against Auburn.
