ROCK HILL, SC— Sophomore
Kyle Zunic scored a career-high 21 points to lead Winthrop to an 88-74 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore for a second straight win, Thursday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (6-4, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
UMES (1-11, 0-0 MEAC)
SCORING LEADERS
- Ryan Andino (21 points, 1 steal)
- Colen Gaynor (13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block)
- Canaan Bartley (12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists)
FIRST HALF
- It was a good start to the game for the Eagles, opening up on a 13-4 run
- The first round baskets of the game for Winthrop came behind the arc as Zunic knocked down two threes while Adam Pickett and Micheal Anumba connected on the others
- Following the Zunic three to put the Eagles on top 12-4, the Eagles cooled off over the next four and a half minutes
- During that span the Eagles were 2-for-12 from the floor but the Eagles still led by two possessions through a strong defensive effort
- With 9:28 left Josh Ferguson found Nych Smith open for three for a 25-18 advantage and then Ferguson hit a three off a feed from Adam Pickett for a 10-point lead
- A minute and a half later Ferguson hit another three for a 13-point lead followed by two buckets in the paint by Anumba and Bjorn Broman as part of a 13-0 run
- Defensively the Eagles clamped down, holding the Hawks 1-for-12 starting at the 12:03 mark and lasting around 10 and a half minutes
- Eagles grabbed their largest lead of the game with 39 seconds left in the half on a Broman three (45-24) but the Hawks Bryan Urrutia scored with nine seconds to make it a 19-point advantage at the half (45-26)
- Winthrop held UMES to 33 percent shooting in the first half while the Eagles shot 41 percent (10-of-24 from three)
SECOND HALF
- Gabriel Gyamfi scored the first points of the second half as UMES was able to make it a 13-point game two and a half minutes into the half
- Smith knocked down a tough jumper while getting fouled and completed the three-point play to push the lead to 16
- UMES scored four straight points to make it a 12-point game, but Pickett scored while being fouled and completed a three-point play for a 56-41 lead with 14:48 left
- The Winthrop lead remained between 13-16 points until 8:32 left when the Hawks were within 11 points after Tyler Jones scored inside
- That was as close as the Hawks got in the second half as the Eagles pushed their lead back to a steady 14-16 points the rest of the game
- UMES was much better from the floor in the second half shooting 56 percent from the floor and never missed more than two shots in a row
- Winthrop shot 42 percent in the second half and was just 4-of-14 from three
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 42 percent from the floor in the game while UMES shot 46 percent
- Winthrop hit 14 threes, hitting just two of its final seven three-point attempts and finishing the game 14-for-38 (37 percent)
- The Eagles aggressiveness paid off as they not only hit 14 threes, but attempted 32 free throws (24-for-32 / 75%)
- Second chance points were pretty even as the Eagles held a slight edge at 16-14 but Winthrop did a good job taking care of the basketball with just eight turnovers and a 14-2 advantage in points off turnovers
- Zunic recorded his second career double-double as he also hauled in 10 rebounds to lead the team
- In addition to Ferguson and Broman's 15 points, Smith finished with 13 points
- Smith also led the team with six assists while Pickett had five
- Jones chipped in with 10 points, two assists and two blocks for UMES
NOTABLES
- Winthrop has now won two straight, four of the last five games
- Eagles have won six of the last seven home games against non-conference opponents
- The last 17 wins at home have been by double-figures
- During Pat Kelsey's tenure the Eagles are now 16-3 at home in the month of December
- Extended streak of 12 or more threes in a game to six in a row
- Winthrop has now won all three meetings against UMES
- Eagles have now won the last 15 games in which it held the lead at halftime and are now 95-16 when leading at the half under Kelsey
UP NEXT
It's a quick turn-around for the Eagles as they will head to Carbondale, IL on Friday for a 4 p.m. contest against Southern Illinois.
