CLINTON, SC— An 11-0 second half run helped Winthrop men's basketball to an 81-68 victory at Presbyterian College for a fourth straight win, Sunday afternoon at the Ross E. Templeton Center.  
 
WINTHROP (11-8, 5-3 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Xavier Cooks (19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks)
• Josh Ferguson (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks)
• Bjorn Broman (13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists)

 
PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE (8-13, 1-7 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Devon Bell (15 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists, 1 steal)
• Reggie Dillard (13 points, 3 rebounds)
• Ethan Kay (15 points) 

FIRST HALF

• The two teams exchanged a few leads in the early going before J.C. Younger gave PC a 9-8 lead
• Winthrop tied the game a couple of more times over the next few minutes, but after Kyle Zunic tied at 11-11 PC grabbed a lead that it held until late in the half
• Ethan Kay broke the 11-11 tie with a triple as the Eagle stayed within a single-possession until the Blue Hose grabbed their largest lead midway through the half, 20-15
• Xavier Cooks then knocked down a three followed by a stickback by Tom Pupavac to tie the game at 20-20
• Kay hit another three and then the Eagles turned the ball over on three straight possessions which allowed PC to push the lead to 27-20
• With 3:58 to play, PC led 29-24 but the Eagles ended the half on a 10-4 run for a 34-33 lead at the break
• Adam Pickett sparked the run with a three-point play and then five straight points by Austin Awad put the Eagles on top 32-31
• Awad hit a three for the lead after Zunic had drawn a charge on the defensive end
• Devon Bell did put PC back in the lead under a minute to play but Anders Broman's jumper gave the Eagles the lead at the half
• Winthrop shot 46 percent in the half while holding PC to 41 percent shooting
• The Eagles opened the game hitting 4-of-7 from the field, then went 3-for-13 before finishing the half connecting on 6-of-8 

 
SECOND HALF

• Teams traded baskets in the early going of the half and the game was tied 39-39 when the Eagles went on a run to open up the game
• Winthrop went on an 11-0 run for a 50-39 lead anchored by a strong defensive effort
• The Eagles had three blocks during the run that was highlighted by four points each from Josh Ferguson and Xavier Cooks
• Kay ended the Eagle run with a right wing three, but the Eagles outscored the Blue Hose 16-5 to build a 55-44 lead with 11:57 to play
• Kay knocked down another three to make it an eight point lead for Winthrop, but Awad answered with a three
• The Awad three started an 12-0 run that gave Winthrop its largest lead to that point at 18 points (67-47)
• PC did cut the deficit down toward the end behind a three from Kay, a Ruben Arroyo layup and two free throws from Bell
• The Eagles were an impressive 65 percent from the floor in the second half (5-for-8 behind the arc and was perfect at the foul line (8-for-8) 

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Winthrop finished the game shooting 56 percent from the floor, 41 percent from three (9-for-22)
• Presbyterian College shot 43 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three (8-for-20)
• Winthrop outrebounded the Blue Hose 34-25 and finished with a 16-10 advantage in second chance points
• In the second half along the Eagles had four blocked shots and turned the ball over just four times
• At the free throw line the Eagles were 12-for-13 while PC was 14-for-19
• Xavier Cooks scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half and Josh Ferguson scored 15 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes
• Anders Broman joined his brother Bjorn, Cooks and Ferguson in double-figures with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and also finished with five assists
• Romeo Crouch was the 4^th Blue Hose player in double-figures as he added 11 points
• Austin Awad had eight points as part of 18 points from the Eagle bench 

 
NOTABLES

• Eagles win their ninth straight over Presbyterian College and fourth in a row at the Ross E. Templeton Center
• Cooks is closing in on 900 career rebounds as he now has 887
• Eagles have now won four straight games with all four wins by double-figures and the 68 points by PC are the most the Eagles have allowed during the streak
• When starting 1-3 in the Big South, this is the first Winthrop team to ever win the next four games
• Winthrop has won eight of its last 11 road games in league play
• Eight of the last nine league wins have been by double-digits
• Winthrop is now 8-1 on the year against opponents from the Carolinas
• Winthrop finished the game shooting 56 percent, which is the 9^th game of the year it has shot 50 percent or better

 
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
Winthrop will play its second straight game on the road when it heads to Farmville, VA on Wednesday, Jan. 24 to take on Longwood at 7 p.m.
 

FOUR IN A ROW! #BigSouthMBB pic.twitter.com/W7aHRW28Rb

— Winthrop Athletics (@WUEagles) January 21, 2018