ASHEVILLE, NC— Winthrop men's basketball fell 89-75 at UNC Asheville in its final road game of the regular season, Thursday evening inside Kimmel Arena.
WINTHROP (18-10, 12-5 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
UNC ASHEVILLE (20-10, 13-4 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- MaCio Teague (23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists)
- Ahmad Thomas (21 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 1 steal)
- Jonathan Baehre (16 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles led 6-2 early as Josh Ferguson opened the scoring with a three-point play followed and after an Asheville bucket Anders Broman swished a corner three
- The Bulldogs scored six straight points to take an 8-6 lead as Anders Broman ended the spurt with another three
- Asheville went on a 9-2 run before a Kyle Zunic three put an end to the run, pulling the Eagles within 20-14
- The Bulldogs made 8-of-10 shots over the first six and a half minutes
- Following the Bulldogs taking a 20-14 lead, both teams went nearly three minutes without a point as Anders Broman ended the scoreless streak with two free throws
- Xavier Cooks scored his first bucket of the game at the 10:32 mark of the half, pulling the Eagles within four points at 24-20
- Cooks then scored off a drive followed by Anders Broman scoring off a drive to tie the game at 24-24 with 7:57 left
- The tie didn't last long as Jonathan Baehre drilled a three from the wing, his second of the half
- Winthrop chipped away at the Bulldog lead and a deep three from Anders Broman from the wing tied the game at 33-33
- Ahmad Thomas broke the tie with a short turn-around jumper over Cooks in the paint to regain the lead for Asheville with 4:35 left
- Asheville took an eight-point lead with 11 seconds thanks to a corner three from MaCio Teague out of a timeout
- Josh Ferguson scored with one second remaining and was fouled but his free throw bounced on the rim a couple of times before falling out as the Eagles trailed 43-37 at the break
- Winthrop shot 52 percent from the floor while Asheville shot 57 percent
- Eagles were 4-for-9 behind the arc while Asheville was 8-for-14
- Anders Broman had 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and three steals in the first half
- Teague had 18 points at the half for the Bulldogs as he was 6-of-10 (5-of-7 behind the arc)
SECOND HALF
- Raekwon Miller scored the first six points of the second half to give Asheville a double-figure lead, 49-37
- That 6-0 spurt turned into a 10-2 run, which led to Winthrop calling a timeout
- Asheville made six of its first eight shots to start the second half
- Miller gave the Bulldogs a 21-point lead at 69-48 with another triple with 10 and a half minutes to play
- Adam Pickett hit two free throws with 9:09 remaining, then Ferguson had a block on the defensive end
- On the ensuing offensive possession Ferguson got the ball in the low post and spun baseline and dunked to make it a 72-56 game with 7:56 left
- Winthrop then forced a turnover and out of the media timeout Anders Broman buried a triple to pull the Eagles within 13 at 72-59
- Winthrop went on an 11-4 run to pull within 11 points at 74-63 behind tough defense that led to points on the offensive end
- Cooks made 1-of-2 free throws with 3:31 left to make it a 10-point game and then made a runner in the lane to cut it to eight points with 2:48 to play
- The Bulldogs pushed the lead back to double-digits with two free throws from Miller as the Bulldogs held off the Eagles
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first half, but in the second half Asheville stayed hot (53%) while the Eagles cooled off a little to shoot 45 percent
- Winthrop shot 48 percent in the game while the Bulldogs shot 55 percent
- Eagles scored 48 points in the paint as they finished just 5-for-18 behind the arc
- Winthrop had a 15-6 advantage in points off turnovers
- There were four Eagles in double-figures led by Anders Broman (22) followed by Adam Pickett (16), Xavier Cooks (15) and Josh Ferguson (13)
- Winthrop was just 12-for-21 at the free throw line
- Asheville won the battle of the boards 42-25 and had a 12-6 edge in second chance points
- Winthrop had nine steals in the game as Anders Broman and Josh Ferguson each had three to lead the Eagles
- Asheville was led MaCio Teague's 23 points and Ahmad Thomas had 21 as they combined to go 16-for-31 from the floor (7-for-12 behind the arc)
NOTABLES
- Winthrop ends its winning streak at five games and falls to 1-6 all-time at Kimmel Arena against the Bulldogs
- Eagles are now 11-2 in the last 13 games
- Winthrop finishes 5-4 on the road in conference play
- The five triples by the Eagles were the fewest in a game since Dec. 19, 2017 when they were 3-for-25 at VCU
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
Winthrop will wrap-up the end of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. as it hosts Charleston Southern. The Eagles will have a senior recognition prior to tip-off to honor six seniors and three managers.
