GREENVILLE, SC—Xavier Cooks and
Josh Ferguson combined for 41 points, 23 rebounds to lead Winthrop to a 93-74 win over Furman, Wednesday evening.
WINTHROP LEADERS
FURMAN LEADERS
- Daniel Fowler (16 points, 3 assists)
- Matt Rafferty (13 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists)
- John Davis III (12 points)
FIRST HALF
- With the Eagles leading 6-5 with 17:55 left in the half, they went on a 13-2 run to open up a 12-point lead
- During the run the Eagles had six different players score a bucket
- Leading 27-15 after a three-pointer from Daniel Fowler, the Eagles went on another run (8-0)
- That run was highlighted by threes from Bjorn Broman and Austin Awad
- Winthrop pushed its lead to as much as 22 points on two occasions (7:29/6:40 marks of the half)
- Eagles held Furman to 32 percent shooting in the half (2-for-13 from three) and forced nine turnovers
- The bench once again played a key role, contributing 18 points led by Nych Smith with eight first half points, Awad with six and Charles Falden with two
- Xavier Cooks had 13 points in the first half on 6-for-9 shooting and seven rebounds
- Kyle Zunic's first two baskets of the half turned into three-point plays as he knocked down the free throw on each opportunity
SECOND HALF
- Furman opened the 2nd half on a little spurt that cut the deficit to 16 points, forcing a Winthrop timeout
- Eagles came out of the time with an Anders Broman triple
- Leading 60-42 with 17:04 left, the Eagles went on a 6-0 run for a 24-point advantage
- The Eagles went 1-for-9 from the floor during stretch heading into the halfway point, but continued to lead by 18 before Cooks scored inside to end the slump for a 72-52 lead with 10:1 remaining
- Every little run the Paladins put together to try and get back into the game were answered with a run by Winthrop to keep its lead hovering between 16-22 points
- Furman was 17-for-21 from the free throw line in the second half alone (25-for-31 in the game)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 51 percent for the game while holding Furman to 37 percent
- The Eagles won the battle of the boards 43-36 and finished with 15 second chance points
- Winthrop finished the game 8-for-25 from three and dominated points in the paint 54-34
- Cooks led all scorers with his 24 points as he recorded his 23rd career double-double
- In the second half the Eagles cooled off a bit shooting 44 percent, but was 11-for-13 at the free throw line
- Winthrop scored on 50 percent of its possessions in the game
- Winthrop finished with 17 fast break points compared to five for Furman
NOTABLES
- Xavier Cooks scored 13 points in the first half to extend his streak of double-figures to 17 straight games
- Cooks finished the game with 10 rebounds as he is closing in on 800 for his career (774)
- Cooks had two blocks in the final 6:49 of the game to become the programs all-time leader in career blocks, as he passes Duby Okeke's mark of 165
- The 52 first half points were the most by an Eagle team against a D1 opponent since they posted 55 vs. Georgia Southern (2nd half) in an 86-84 win at home
- Winthrop posted 85-plus points for a fifth straight game, which is a program record for consecutive games with 85 or more points
- Bjorn Broman also set a career-high in assists with six as he also finished with six points
- Josh Ferguson recorded a double-double in back-to-back games for the first time in his career (17 points, 13 rebounds)
- The all-times series between Winthrop and Furman is tied 5-5 as the Eagles have now won the last five meetings
- The last four wins on the road by Winthrop have been by double-figures (dating back to last season)
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
The Eagles return home for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, Dec. 3 as they host Reinhardt University.
