ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop overcame a 12-point deficit to earn its fourth straight victory as it down Prairie View A&M 76-62, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (8-4, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (1-11, 0-0 SWAC)
SCORING LEADERS
- Darius Williams (15 points, 3 rebounds, 6 steals)
- Gary Blackston (14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals)
- Dennis Jones (10 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 5 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Both teams got off to a slow start as the two teams combined to shoot 5-for-15 from the floor in the first five minutes
- The Eagles had just three field goal attempts in the first five minutes as they committed four turnovers
- The game was tied 6-6 with 17:05 left in the half when the Panthers went on an 11-0 run a little over five minutes
- Josh Ferguson drilled a three to end the run and the Winthrop scoring drought at five minutes and 53 seconds
- Following the Ferguson three the Panthers scored four straight for their largest lead of the game at 21-9
- Micheal Anumba knocked down a tough jumper in the lane to make it a 10-point game and spark a 12-2 run that got the Eagles within a possession with 7:33 left in the half
- Gerard Andrus scored inside to give the Panthers a 23-13 lead before Winthrop reeled of nine straight points beginning with five straight points from Nych Smith
- Knocked down a jumper to cut it to eight points and then picked the pocket of Dennis Jones and went the distance for the lay-in and the foul as he completed the three-point play to make it a five-point game
- After Adam Pickett made 1-of-2 free throws, Smith followed his own miss with a tip-in to cut the deficit to 23-21
- Prairie View called timeout and following the break scored five straight points behind a Darius Williams three and a steal and layup by Jones to push the lead back to seven
- Two free throws by Bjorn Broman made it a five-point game and turned out to be the start of a 9-0 run that gave the Eagles their first lead of the half since the 18:01 mark
- Kyle Zunic made two free throws to make it four straight points and then Broman knocked down a technical free throw to make it a two-point game with 4:37 left
- After getting a defensive stop the Eagles worked the ball around the perimeter and Broman found Zunic open for three in the corner as he dropped it for a 29-28 lead
- Gary Blackston put the Panthers back on top with a jumper, but Austin Awad gave the Eagles the lead back with 2:01 left by knocking down a three
- Panthers scored the final four points of the half for a 34-32 lead
- Despite the slow start from the field, Winthrop shot 50 percent while the Panthers shot 38 percent
- Winthrop committed 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes that led to 14 points for the Panthers
SECOND HALF
- Winthrop opened the second half hitting 8-of-10 shots while holding the Panthers to 1-of-8 and eventually 3-of-12
- Pickett tied the game on the first possession for Winthrop as he maneuvered his way into the lane and scored while being fouled as he completed the three-point play for a 35-34 lead
- Broman followed with a three-pointer off an extra pass from Anumba and then Zunic scored down the middle of the lane for a 40-34 lead and a timeout by the Panthers
- Leading by three, Ferguson buried another three and then Awad hit a three for a 46-37 lead
- Raivis Scerbinskis made it a 12-point advantage with 13:42 to play as he hit his only shot, a three from the wing
- The lead grew as large as 16 points with 11:03 left after a three-point play from Jermaine Ukaegbu and the third three of the game from Awad
- The Panthers did cut the deficit to 10 points with 2:53 on a triple by Williams, but the Eagles came right back with a jumper in the lane from Zunic
- Winthrop turned the ball over 13 times in the second half but shot 62 percent from the floor (5-of-9 from three)
- Panthers turned 13 Winthrop turnovers into 15 points in the second half as they shot 39 percent from the floor
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop committed 27 turnovers in the game that led to 29 points for the Panthers
- Panthers finished the game with 18 steals as Williams had a game-high six and Jones had five
- The battle of the boards was won by the Eagles 38-30 but the Panthers had 19 offensive boards
- Second chance points were pretty even as the Panthers had a slight edge 14-13
- Pickett led the Eagle bench with 15 points as the bench chipped in with 30 total points
- Smith exited the game just before the half and didn't return as he finished with nine points while Awad also had nine points
- The game saw a total of seven lead changes and the game was tied four times
NOTABLES
- This was the second game this season the Eagles rallied from a 12-point deficit to earn the win
- Winthrop's streak of 10 or more threes in a game came to an end at a program record six games
- The last time the Eagles committed 14 turnovers in the first half was Nov. 24, 2017 at Auburn
- The last 18 wins at home for Winthrop have been by double-figures
- Eagles now have eight or more wins in non-conference play for the 5th time under Pat Kelsey
- The victory was the 369th all-time at the Winthrop Coliseum for the Eagles and the 4th straight home win
UP NEXT
Eagles are back in action on New Year's Day as they'll ring in 2019 in Tallahassee, FL to take on Florida State on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m.
