ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop connected on a school record 24 three-pointers and tied the Big South Conference record on its way to a 109-66 win over Hiwassee, Sunday afternoon in men's basketball action at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (5-4, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
HIWASSEE (8-10)
SCORING LEADERS
- Toure Fudge (18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals)
- Jamal Weaver (13 points, 1 rebound)
- Ben Snider (12 points, 1 assist, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Winthrop opened up the game flying around offensively and defensively
- The Eagles scored the first 15 points of the game and forced the Tigers to miss their first nine shots
- Adam Pickett opened up the scoring for the game with a three, dished to an open Kyle Zunic for a three and then completed a three-point play for a 9-0 lead less than two minutes into the game
- Nych Smith made it 11-0 as he raced down the court scoring at the rim on the break and then following a Micheal Anumba free throw Smith knifed his way through the defense and scored another bucket at the rim to make it 14 straight points
- The first points of the game for Hiwassee came 4:55 into the game as Ben Snider hit an off balance jumper
- Eagles pushed their lead to 21 points at the 13:07 mark after an Austin Awad triple as he hit two threes in a span of just over a minute for a 28-2 lead
- Winthrop connected on 11 threes in the first half as it shot 49 percent from the floor (41 percent behind the arc)
- Hiwassee was just 1-of-8 behind the arc in the first half and shot 24 percent from the floor
SECOND HALF
- The Eagles shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half (13-of-28 from three)
- Hiwassee improved from the floor in the second half at 40 percent as Toure Fudge helped that number going 6-of-11 as he scored 15 of his 18 points in a span of three minutes and 17 seconds that included two threes from very deep
- Winthrop reached the school record for threes in a game with 10:18 to play in the game as Raivis Scerbinskis hit the 19th of the game
- Scerbinskis also got the honor of breaking the record by hitting the 20th on the ensuing possession
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop had six players in double-figures led by Pickett and Awad with 18 points
- Pickett was an impressive 6-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 behind the arc while Awad was 6-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-12 from three
- The 18 points were a career-high for Awad as were the six triples in a single-game
- Josh Ferguson added 15 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and 7th of his career
- Nych Smith was also in double-figures with 14 points while Zunic added 10
- Eagles finished with 29 assists as 12 different players had at least one and eight had multiple
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 49 percent from the floor, 44 percent from three and were11-of-14 at the foul line (79%)
- The battle of the boards favored Winthrop 56-39 as the Eagles finished with 32 second chance points
- From the 16 minute mark of the second half until the 8:59 mark the Eagles only hit threes (nine of them in that span)
NOTABLES
- Winthrop has now won 52 straight against Non-D1 opponents and is now 20=0 under Pat Kelsey
- It is the first time in program history the team has hit 10 or more threes in each half of the same contest
- The 24 three-pointers broke the school record set on Nov. 18, 2017 against Central Penn when the Eagles dropped in 19
- Winthrop is the first Big South team to hit 20 or more three-pointers in a game since Campbell hit 23 at Liberty on Jan. 23, 2018
- The 24 threes tie the Big South record set by VMI on Jan. 29, 2009 when it connected on 24 against Southern Virginia
- The last 16 wins at the Winthrop Coliseum have all been by double-figures
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains at home for its next contest as it will welcome Maryland Eastern Shore to the Winthrop Coliseum on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. It will be "Education Day" at the Winthrop Coliseum as over 4,000 area elementary students are expected to be in attendance.
