ASHEVILLE, NC— Bjorn Broman hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left to seal the win and push Winthrop into Friday's semifinals after a 72-68 win over sixth-seeded Gardner-Webb, Thursday afternoon in the Big South Conference Tournament at Kimmel Arena.
 
WINTHROP (19-11, 12-6 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Adam Pickett (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
• Anders Broman (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals)
• Xavier Cooks (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks)

 
GARDNER=WEBB (14-18, 9-9 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Liam O'Reilly (20 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals)
• David Efianayi (16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
• D.J. Laster (11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal)

 
FIRST HALF

• Winthrop opened the scoring at the 17:42 mark with a corner three from Adam Pickett
• The Eagles pushed the lead to 5-0 and held Gardner-Webb scoreless for four minutes and one second until D.J. Laster hit two free throws
• The Eagles continued to play tough defense and after back-to-back threes from Kyle Zunic and Pickett, Gardner-Webb called timeout as the lead was 11-2 with 14:56 to play in the half
• The nine point lead was down to four after an 8-3 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs as they chewed into lead getting in the paint
• The run was stopped by another Zunic three with 11:08 remaining in the half
• Following that three the Runnin' Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead with 8:42 on the clock, 20-19
• The 8-run turned into a 13-2 run for a 25-21 lead with 6:29 left
• Despite going 1-for-10 from the floor from the 10:17 mark of the half until the 2:17 mark the game was tied at the half
• Winthrop shot just 35 percent from the floor and behind the arc while going a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line
• Gardner-Webb shot 48 percent after starting the game 0-for-4 from the floor and committing four turnovers in the first eight possessions
• Pickett and Zunic led the Eagles with eight points at the break while Anders and Bjorn Broman were a combined 1-for-8
• Gardner-Webb had a 14-6 advantage in points in the paint while the Eagles had an 11-6 edge in bench points
• The battle of the boards favored Gardner-Webb in the first 20 minutes, 19-11 but only managed two second chance points on five offensive boards

 
SECOND HALF

• Anders Broman set the tone for the type of second half he was going to have as he drilled an early three out of the break for a 35-32 lead
• After five lead changes, Anders Broman stepped up again as he hit a three for 43-42 lead and then hit another while being fouled and completed a four-point play to lead 47-42
• O'Reilly answered with a three to make it a one-possession game that lasted 14 seconds as Zunic scored again
• Leading 51-49 with 9:59 to play, the Eagles pushed their lead to seven points as Pickett popped a three and Anders Broman followed an O'Reilly basket with a three to lead 57-50 with 7:54 to play
• With 4:22 to play in the game the Eagles pushed the lead to nine points at 66-55 as Xavier Cooks hit 1-of-2 free throws
• Cooks scored five straight points to help build the nine point advantage and seven of the team's final 19 points
• After Bjorn Broman hit two free throws for a 70-65 lead with 11.8 seconds remaining, O'Reilly leaped in the air for an off balance three as it hit the bottom of the net with 4.1 seconds left
• Gardner-Webb fouled Bjorn Broman on the inbound and he sealed the deal by making two free throws
• Winthrop shot 46 percent in the second half compared to 40 percent by Gardner-Webb
• The Eagles scored 12 points off six second half turnovers by Gardner-Webb
• Anders Broman scored all 15 of his points in the second half

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• For the game Winthrop shot 41 percent while Gardner-Webb shot 44 percent
• Both teams shots well at the foul line as Winthrop was 16-for-19 (84%) and Gardner-Webb was 13-for-15 (87%)
• In the final 22 seconds the Eagles were a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line
• Points in the paint favored Gardner-Webb 32-20 while the Eagles finished with a 21-12 advantage in points off turnovers
• Kyle Zunic scored 13 points off the bench for the Eagles, eight of which came in the first half
• Gardner-Webb was +9 on the boards (37-28) and had 11 offensive rebounds
• Despite going 1-for-7 from the floor, Bjorn Broman finished with nine points to go along with two assists, no turnovers and two steals

 
NOTABLES

• Winthrop went through a span of hitting just 4-of-20 shots from the 12:22 mark of the first half to the 17:03 mark of the second half
• That made the Eagles 18-for-34 the rest of the game (53%)
• This was the first game all season the Eagles were tied at halftime
• Winthrop is making its fifth straight appearance in the semifinals of the conference tournament
• The win marked the 9^th straight over Gardner-Webb and it was the 7^th straight time the Eagles have won their first game of the conference tournament
• Eagles improve to 12-4 all-time in conference tournament games under Pat Kelsey
• Xavier Cooks moved within four blocks of Josh Grant for the second most blocks in a single-season (66)
• Bjorn Broman's lone three put him in a tie with David McMahan for 10^th all-time in program history with 160 in a career 

 
ON TAP FOR WINTHROP
The Eagles will face second-seeded Radford on Friday, Mar. 2 at 6 p.m. in the semifinals of the conference tournament.