DAVIDSON, NC— Nych Smith scored a game-high 25 points, but Winthrop men's basketball fell 99-81 at Davidson Tuesday evening at the John M. Belk Arena.
WINTHROP (4-4, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
DAVIDSON (8-1, 0-0 A-10)
SCORING LEADERS
- Jon Axel Gudmundsson (24 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists)
- Kellan Grady (20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists)
- Luka Brajkovic (18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Over the first four and a half minutes there were four lead changes as Davidson opened the scoring with a basket inside from Luke Brajkovic only to have the Eagles also score on their first possession with an Adam Pickett triple
- Trailing 7-5, Bjorn Broman hit a three from the left wing to give the Eagles an 8-7 lead, a lead they held until the 9:49 mark
- Raivis Scerbinskis hit a wing three just moments after checking in to put the Eagles ahead 18-12 with 14:47 left for the largest lead to that point
- With 11:45 to play in the half, Kyle Zunic buried a corner three for a 23-15 lead as the Eagles hit eight of their first 15 shots including 5-of-10 from three
- The Wildcats responded with a 12-0 run that was capped off by a three from Luke Frampton
- Jermaine Ukaegbu halted the run as he scored inside off a nice dish from Micheal Anumba and on the ensuing possession Broman hit another three to make it a one point game with 8:44 remaining
- After Davidson pushed its lead 31-28 when Pickett was whistled for a flagrant one foul when he tried to block a dunk attempt on the break, Nych Smith took the ball to the rim and scored to bring it back to a one point game at 31-30
- With 6:21 to play Josh Ferguson hit a wing three to tie the game at 33-33 and took a 36-33 lead on a Smith triple as he pulled up for three off the dribble
- Leading 42-40, Jon Axel Gudmundsson hit back-to-back threes for a 48-40 lead but Scerbinskis answered with a three to cut the deficit back to six
- That's where the lead remained at halftime as Davidson led 51-45 as the Eagles shot 50 percent from the floor and Davidson shot 44 percent
- The Eagles were solid on the boards with a 20-18 edge, allowing the Wildcats only two offensive rebounds
- A big part in the Wildcats six-point halftime were points off turnovers and the foul line
- Davidson scored 15 points off six Winthrop turnovers and was 12-of-13 from the free throw line
SECOND HALF
- Davidson scored the first five points of the second half to build an 11-point advantage
- Zunic hit a three to cut the deficit back to single-digits and scored a total of seven consecutive points to make it a six-point game with 15:26 to play
- A 7-0 run in just over a minute put the Wildcats in front by double-figures as Dusan Kovacevic capped off the run with a wing three for a 65-52 lead
- That run turned into 12 straight points for an 18-point advantage at 70-52 but Smith answered for the Eagles with a three
- Smith's three sparked a 10-0 run by the Eagles to make it an eight point game as Smith scored six points during the run and Zunic had the last four
- Gudmundsson's bucket inside with 8:51 left put the Wildcats on top 82-66 but the Eagles continued to battle as Smith drained a three off a nice feed from Zunic and then Smith dribbled his way through traffic to score on a lay-up to make it 82-71 with 7:40 to play
- Davidson didn't cool off the rest of the way as it shot 59 percent for the half (6-of-11 from three) while the Eagles shot just 36 percent
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 44 percent while Davidson shot 52 percent
- The two teams combined for 25 three-pointers as the Eagles were 12-of-34 and Davidson was 13-of-28
- Winthrop committed 16 turnovers that led to 31 points for the Wildcats while the Eagles scored 12 points off 10 Davidson miscues
- Eagles shot 17 free throws in the second half and finished the game 19-for-22 from the line while Davidson was 16-for-18
- Smith posted his third 20-point game of the season for the Eagles with a game-high 25 points while Zunic was the only other Eagle in double-figures with 16 points
- Winthrop finished with 16 assists on 25 field goals while Davidson had 20 assists on 35 field goals
- Anumba led the team with a career-high seven assists
- Gudmundsson led the Wildcats with 24 points while Grady added 20
- Brajkovic added 18 points while KiShawn Pritchett had 11
NOTABLES
- The Eagles connected on nine threes in the first half, which were the most in a first half in a road game since Jan. 4, 2017 at High Point when the Eagles hit 10 (finished with 17 in that game)
- Winthrop is now 4-6 all-time against Davidson and 1-11 against the Atlantic 10 Conference
- Pat Kelsey coached his 200th game for the Eagles
- This was just the 12th loss during the Kelsey era when the team scores 80 or more points
- Winthrop's 12 threes gives them 12 or more in four straight games and six of the last seven
- The win for Davidson was the fifth straight
UP NEXT
Winthrop will have 11 days off before its next game on Sunday, Dec. 16 at home against Hiwassee College at 2 p.m.
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