ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop's seniors combined to score 45 points on their night as the Eagles handed Charleston Southern an 86-72 loss, Thursday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Winthrop's five seniors were recognized prior to tip as they helped the Eagles improve to 22-6 overall and 14-3 in the Big South. The loss drops Charleston Southern to 10-18 overall and 6-11 in the league. The regular season comes to a close on Saturday, Feb. 25 when the Eagles head to Clinton, SC to take on Presbyterian College at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3.

After the Buccaneers opened the second half with a bucket from Armel Potter to cut the Winthrop lead down to 10, the Eagles reeled off 11 straight points as Keon Johnson started with back-to-back threes and then Johnson found Xavier Cooks for an open look and he buried the three. That propelled the Eagles to a 21-point lead and they held steady the rest of the way.

Cooks led the Eagles with 22 points as he recorded his fourth straight double-double as he pulled down a team-best 10 boards. Johnson had 21 points while Tevin Prescott joined them in double-figures with 13. Roderick Perkins added nine points and six rebounds.

Winthrop finished the game shooting 44 percent as it connected on 13 three-point baskets and finished with a 41-11 advantage in bench points. A good chunk of Winthrop's points came on the offensive glass, finishing with 22 second-chance points. The Eagles held Charleston Southern to 40 percent shooting as it finished 3-for-11 behind the arc.

Christian Keeling scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Buccaneers as he also finished with career-high 13 rebounds to record a double-double. Potter also finished with double-figures with 18.  

Winthrop jumped out to an early 12-5 lead as Cooks completed a three-point play. The teams traded baskets the next couple of possessions and then with 11:21 to play in the half the Eagles started a 10-0 run that started and ended with an Adam Pickett free throw. Bjorn Broman and Perkins each provided threes during the run that put the Eagles up 16. The grew as much as 17 with 7:05 left after another Bjorn Broman three.

A 7-0 run by the Buccaneers cut it to a seven-point game with 3:38 left but the Eagles pushed the lead back to double-figures by the break at 43-31. The Eagles show 45 percent in the first 20 minutes while holding the Buccaneers to 39 percent. The Winthrop bench contributed 19 points in the first half led by Cooks with eight and Bjorn Broman with six.  
 
EXTRA DRIBBLE
-Eagles have 22 wins for the 6^th time in the history of the program and for a second straight season
-Keon Johnson is 46 points away from 2,000 in his career, which only nine players in Big South history have achieved
-Winthrop has now won 15 straight at the Winthrop Coliseum over Charleston Southern
-The 14 wins are tied for the second most by any Winthrop team (15 is record set by 2004-05 team)
-Eagles have won 25-of-30 games against Big South opponents overall and 32 of the last 37 home games