EDWARDSVILLE, IL— Senior
Adam Pickett scored a career-high 24 points to pace five players in double-figures as Winthrop earned a 94-82 win at Southern Illinois Edwardsville, Saturday evening.
WINTHROP (1-1, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS EDWARDSVILLE (0-2, 0-0 OVC)
SCORING LEADERS
- David McFarland (20 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Brandon Jackson (13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
- Cameron Williams (11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)
FIRST HALF
- SIUE led for the first 11 and a half minutes but a 12-4 run by the Eagles put them ahead with 7:58 left
- Winthrop trailed 19-15 after Daniel Kinchen knocked down a short jumper but then Bjorn Broman hit three triples within a minute and nine seconds to put the Eagles in front 27-23, forcing SIUE to call timeout
- With four starters in foul trouble with two fouls in the first half the Eagles had to depend on their bench and it responded
- Charles Falden snagged an offensive rebound and scored on the put-back for a 35-28 lead with 4:14 left in the half
- With 2:12 left Falden again put the Eagles up by seven points with two free throws, but SIUE was able to make it a one-point game at the break
- Nych Smith scored off a drive with two seconds left in the half for a four-point advantage but David McFarland got a shot off from halfcourt before time expired and made it
- Both teams shot 47 percent from the floor in the first half as Winthrop led 43-42 at the break
- Winthrop was 6-for-15 behind the arc while holding SIUE to 3-for-12
- Falden led the Eagles bench with six points while Austin Awad added three points
- The Cougars received a bigger contribution from their bench in the first half with 21 points
SECOND HALF
- The teams opened the second half trading baskets and leads as SIUE scored the first basket of the half on a Tyrese Williford layup only to see Adam Pickett drill a three to get the lead right back
- After Brandon Jackson tied the game at 46-46, Josh Ferguson drilled a three to put the Eagles back in the lead
- With 15:27 left, Micheal Anumba scored inside for a six-point lead that was quickly pushed back to four points after a follow dunk by Jackson
- Anumba scored the next two baskets for Winthrop to push the lead to eight points as the Eagles capped off a 7-0 run for a 65-54 lead
- After SIUE ended the run with a jumper from Cameron Williams, Winthrop answered with another three from Ferguson for a 68-56 lead
- With 11:18 left Pickett hit another three for a 71-58 lead, forcing SIUE to call timeout
- The lead extended to 75-59 with 9:48 to play as the Eagles defense held the Cougars to 3-of-10 shooting over a six and a half minute stretch
- That effort allowed the Eagles to push the lead to as much as 17 points
- Winthrop held on to its double-digit lead the remainder of the game
- It was a hot shooting second half for the Eagles as they shot 58 percent from the floor and 53 percent from three (8-for-15)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Before McFarland's halfcourt three at the buzzer of the first half, the Cougars had missed seven straight behind the arc
- That was the last three SIUE connected on until 1:20 to play in the game
- In the first half when Bjorn Broman hit three triples, it made it four straight made threes by the Eagles to help ignite the 12-4 run to grab their first lead
- Josh Ferguson played just two and a half minutes in the first half scoring two points and pulling down rebounds as he finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists
- The Eagles knocked down 14 three-pointers in the game (47 percent / 14-for-30) compared to four for the Cougars (4-for-19 / 21 percent)
- Winthrop had a 40-38 edge on the boards but did allow 16 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second chance points and gave the Cougars 27 points off turnovers
NOTABLES
- Eagles placed five players in double-figures for the first time since Feb. 18, 2018 vs. Longwood
- The 14 threes were the most by the Eagles since they connected on 15 at Colorado State on Nov. 14, 2017
- Winthrop's last six wins on the road have been by double-figures
- The eight three-pointers in the second half were the most in the final 20 minutes by the Eagles since Jan. 3, 2018 at Radford (8)
- Pickett not only set a career-high in points but also knocked down a career-high five threes as he was 5-of-7 behind the arc
- Bjorn Broman (13 points) hit four threes in the game and now has 165 in his career, tying Keon Moore for 9th place on the all-time list and he is now 30 away from 8th place
- Freshman Micheal Anumba set career-highs in points (13), rebounds (7) and assists (4) in 35 minutes of action
- Winthrop has now won two straight games against Ohio Valley Conference opponents
- The 94 points were the most scored in a road game by the Eagles since 95 points at Longwood on Jan. 24, 2018
- The 94 points are tied for the 6th most points scored in a road contest by a Winthrop team
UP NEXT
After opening the season with back-to-back road games the Eagles return to Rock Hill for back-to-back home games beginning with the home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 13 against Pfeiffer at 7 p.m.
