COOKEVILLE, TN— Bjorn Broman scored a season-high 20 points to help lead the Winthrop men's basketball team to a comeback 82-70 victory at Tennessee Tech, Wednesday evening at the Eblen Center.
WINTHROP (4-3, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
TENNESSEE TECH (1-6, 0-0 OVC)
SCORING LEADERS
- Jr. Clay (20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block)
- Micaiah Henry (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks)
- Johnnie Vassar (9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles opened the game scoring the first eight points as Bjorn Broman capped off the run with a baseline three off the inbound
- Broman hit back-to-back threes after Nych Smith scored the first basket of the game
- Tennessee Tech responded by scoring five straight points as Courtney Alexander II drove the baseline and dunked for the first bucket followed by a triple from Hunter Vick
- It ended up being six straight before the Eagles stopped the run as Josh Ferguson hit 1-of-2 free throws but the Eagles boarded the missed free throw and Austin Awad buried a three for a 12-6 lead
- The lead didn't last long as the Golden Eagles reeled off nine straight points for a 15-12 lead as Corey Tillery's triple pushed them in front 13-12 with 14:04 left
- Two free throws from Micheal Anumba with 10:39 left in the half tied the game at 20-20, but the Eagles hit a scoring drought that allowed the Golden Eagles to build a double-figure lead
- Tillery hit a three with 4:23 left for a 33-22 lead but Broman answered right away for the Eagles with a three
- The Broman three ended a drought of eight straight misses by the Eagles, which the Golden Eagles turned into an eight-point advantage
- That three from Broman sparked a run by the Eagles as they cut the deficit to three points with 2:03 left as the Eagles made 4-of-5 shots, forcing Tennessee Tech to call timeout
- Despite Winthrop's shooting effort late in the half, Tennessee Tech was able to push its lead to seven points at the break, 40-33
- Winthrop shot just 34 percent in the half and was 6-for-18 from three while the Golden Eagles hot 43 percent and were 5-of-10 from three
- The Eagles committed seven turnovers in the half and Tennessee Tech took advantage with 11 points off turnovers
SECOND HALF
- The Golden Eagles scored the first five points out of the half to push their lead to 11 points for a second time in the game
- Anumba answered for the Eagles with just his second triple of the year but Tennessee Tech answered back and pushed the lead to 12 points with 15:21 left (49-37)
- Raivis Scerbinskis checked into the game to try and spark the offense and he did just that with 14:19 left he buried a three to start a 7-0 spurt to make it a four-point game with just under 13 to play
- Jr. Clay stopped the run as he scored inside while getting fouled a completed a three-point play
- The Eagles took that punch and hit right back as Adam Pickett got a three-point play of his own followed by a lay-up from Charles Falden off a turnover to make it a 52-50 deficit with a little more than we minutes to play
- Following a turnover the Eagles pushed the ball up the court and Scerbinskis came through again as he knocked down a three for a 53-52 lead for eight straight points by the Eagles
- Clay put Tennessee Tech back on top with a basket inside, but Broman hit his fourth three of the game for a 56-54 lead and then hit another on the ensuing possession with a corner three with 9:22 to play
- Overall it was a 14-2 run by the Eagles that put them on top 59-54
- In just shy of five minutes the Eagles had turned a seven point deficit into a seven point lead
- Clay single-handedly was trying to keep the Eagles from pulling away as he scored inside while being fouled and completed the three-point play and then dished to Micaiah Henry for an easy slam to make it a two-point game with 6:12 remaining
- Adam Pickett's second basket of the game came at a key time as he knocked down a three following the Henry dunk for a five-point lead
- Pickett's triple ignited a 9-0 run that gave the Eagles a double-figure lead for the first time in the game at 72-61 with just under four minutes to play
- Leading by nine points the Eagles got a defensive stand as Nych Smith stole the ball and Broman dropped his sixth three of the game on the break for a 75-63 lead with 2:04 left
- Winthrop shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half and was 9-of-17 from three while TTU shot 42 percent and was 1-of-10 from three
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- For the game both teams finished shooting 43 percent from the floor, but the Eagles were 15-of-35 behind the arc (43 percent) and TTU was 6-of-20 (30 percent)
- The battle of the boards went to TTU with a slight advantage at 42-39
- The Eagles had a 25-24 advantage in bench points and 12-6 on the break
- Winthrop finished the game with 20 assists on 29 made field goals
- Josh Ferguson struggled from the field in the game as he finished with just three points but had six rebounds, four assists and a steal
- Charles Falden led the Eagles off the bench with seven points while Raivis Scerbinskis added six points
- Scerbinskis had six of the 13 second half points from the bench
- After just two points off turnovers in the first half, the Eagles had 14 in the second half for a 16-15 edge in the game
NOTABLES
- The victory gives Pat Kelsey 125 for his career (199 games)
- This was just the second career 20-point game for Broman as both have come on the road
- Anumba finished the game perfect from the floor at 5-for-5 and finished with a team-high +25 on the court
- The win gives the Eagles three straight against opponents from the Ohio Valley Conference
- Eagles have now hit 13 or more threes in three straight games and five of the last six games
- In the last seven road wins the Eagles have won the game by 10 or more points
- It is also just the third road win over an OVC opponent as all three have been by double-figures
- During the Pat Kelsey era the Eagles are 67-11 all-time when scoring 80 or more points
- By scoring 82 points in the game, the Eagles have now surpassed 15,000 points during the Kelsey Era (75.5 ppg in 199 games)
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains on the road for its next contest as the it will travel up I-77 to take on Davidson on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.
