LYNCHBURG, VA— Winthrop's six-game winning streak ended Thursday evening in the Vines Center with a 77-61 loss at Liberty. 
 
WINTHROP (13-9, 7-4 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Xavier Cooks (21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal)
• Anders Broman (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists)
• Adam Pickett (6 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 3 steals)

 
LIBERTY (14-10, 5-6 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Scottie James (21 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks)
• Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz (14 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 3 steals)
• Caleb Homesley (16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal)

 
FIRST HALF

• Xavier Cooks scored the first seven points for the Eagles as they trailed 8-7 at the 16:11 mark
• Liberty went on a 9-0 run for a 17-7 lead before Adam Pickett scored inside
• The Flames came right back with five quick points with a Scottie James tip-in and then he buried a three for a 13-piont lead
• The lead grew to as large as 16 points at 27-11 after James scored inside but the Eagles bounced back
• Cooks scored eight straight points to pull the Eagles within eight points with 5:45 left
• Winthrop had a chance to dig into the lead, but turned the ball over and Liberty made them pay with a three from Keegan McDowell for a 30-19 lead
• A Bjorn Broman triple with 1:41 left got the Eagles back within eight, but Liberty answered following an Eagle turnover as Caleb Homesley drained a corner three for a 37-26 lead, which remained the score at the break
• Eagles shot 41 percent from the floor while Liberty was 50 percent from the field
• Winthrop was just 3-for-10 behind the arc while the Flames were 5-for-11
• Winthrop turned the ball over eight times which led to 14 points for the Flames
• Cooks had 15 first half points on 5-of-8 shooting while James also had 15 points as he was 7-of-10 from the floor 

 
SECOND HALF

• Liberty opened the half with a 7-0 run for a 44-29 lead, but Bjorn Broman ended the run with a left wing three
• The Flames pushed their lead to 50-33 with 14:06 left after Ryan Kemrite hit two free throws but Anders Broman drained a three 10 seconds later
• Anders Broman hit another three with 13:26 to play and then hit two free throws to make it an 11-point game with 12:45 remaining
• Liberty responded with a corner three from Elijah Cuffee for a 55-41 advantage
• Anders Broman answered with another three to pull the Eagles within 11 only to have Liberty respond with another three
• Anders Broman hit another three to make it a 10-point game with 8:11 left as he scored 11-of-12 points by the Eagles over a five-minute span
• Cooks missed two free throws with 4:17 to play, but on his second miss Adam Pickett boarded the miss and scored to cut it to a nine-point game with 4:12 to play
• But like many times throughout the game, Liberty had an answer as it buried another three as Homesley hit from the wing with 3:52 left
• Liberty shot 46 percent from the floor in the second half while the Eagles also shot 46 percent
• Anders Broman scored all 14 of his points in the second half as he was 4-for-7 from the field and 4-for-6 from three 

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Liberty shot 48 percent from the floor while the Eagles were 44 percent from the field
• The Flames were 11-for-22 from three while the Eagles were 9-for-26 behind the arc
• Winthrop had eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes, which was about ¼ of the team's first possessions
• For the game the Eagles finished with 13 turnovers that led to 24 total points for the Flames
• The Eagles held Liberty scoreless for over four minutes in each half
• Winthrop even forced seven straight missed by the Flames in the second half and 11-of-13 during a span in the final 10 minutes
• Cooks led the Eagles with 21 points, which was his third straight game in the 20s an fourth in the last five games
• Eagles finished with 14 assists on 22 made field goals
• Winthrop was just 8-for-16 from the foul line while the Flames finished 16-for-18
• The points in the paint were dead even at 24 each 

 
NOTABLES

• Winthrop's winning streak ended at six straight as it had won three straight on the road
• The streak began after falling to Liberty at home and ended with a loss at Liberty
• This was the first time the Eagles were swept by Liberty in a regular season series since 2004
• Xavier Cooks inched closer to become the program's all-time leader in rebounds as he grabbed nine in the game and is four behind Charles Brunson's record of 913
• Cooks led the Eagles in scoring for the fourth straight game and the 12^th time
• He is also just one steal away from becoming just the second player in the history of the Big South Conference with 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 150 blocks, 200 assists and 100 steals
• With three blocks in the game, Cooks now has 192 in his career and moved into 8^th place all-time in Big South history

 
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
Winthrop returns home on a quick turnaround when it hosts Radford on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m., which is the first of two straight at the Winthrop Coliseum.