BUIES CREEK, NC— Nych Smith scored a career-high 27 points off the bench and
Adam Pickett added 23 points to lead Winthrop to a 90-86 victory at Campbell, Thursday evening at Gore Arena.
WINTHROP (10-5, 2-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
CAMPBELL (8-8, 1-1 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- Chris Clemons (34 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals)
- Andrew Eudy (25 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks)
- Jordan Whitfield (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Adam Pickett got the Eagles off to a good start as he scored seven of the first 10 points for an early 10-3 lead
- Pickett scored his first two baskets getting to the rim and then stepped out to hit a three at the 16:46 mark
- Campbell made it a one-point game at 10-9 but Nych Smith drained a three followed by Pickett scoring inside once again for a 15-9 advantage
- Back-to-back jumpers buckets from Andrew Eudy cut the lead to 15-13 before Bjorn Broman knocked down a three for a five point lead
- Camels worked their way back to within a point with 12:05 left after Chris Clemons drained a three (19-18) but again the Eagles had an answer as Josh Ferguson cut to the basket and Austin Awad found him for an open layup
- Over the next four minutes the team's went back-and-forth and once again it was a one-point game with 8:29 left after Jordan Whitfield knocked down a jumper to make it 29-28 in favor of Winthrop
- Awad responded by burying a three on the ensuing possession for a four point lead
- Campbell tied the game at 34-34 with 6:30 left as Eudy drained a three only to have Ferguson give Winthrop the lead back at 36-34 after a stick back off a miss from Smith
- That lead was brief as Clemons hit another three for the first lead of the game for the Camels at 37-36
- Winthrop answered with four straight points as Smith and Pickett both go to the rim for baskets
- Two free throws from Broman had the Eagles on top 42-39 with 3:17 left but the Camels ended the half on an 8-4 run with Clemons hitting a basket with four seconds left for a 47-46 lead at the half
- Both teams shot the ball well from the floor as Winthrop hit 59 percent and the Camels shot 66 percent
- Winthrop doubled up the Camels on the glass 16-8 and had eight second chance points
SECOND HALF
- Winthrop scored the first four points of the half and Campbell missed its first nine shots of the half as the Eagles lead 50-47
- Campbell came right back to score the next five points to grab a 52-50 lead that started with a Eudy three from the top of the key followed by a Clemons layup off a turnover
- The Camels had an opportunity to take a multiple possession lead but the Eagles held defensively and an offensive board by Pickett led to an Awad three off a nice pass from Charles Falden as the Eagles regained the lead 53-52
- With 13:59 left and the game tied 55-55 Campbell had two good looks behind the arc but couldn't get them to fall
- Pickett took advantage as he drilled a three for a 58-55 lead for good
- Following two free throws from Eudy to make it a one point game again Pickett hit two free throws of his own and then Ferguson knocked down a three for a six-point lead with 10:35 left
- Over the next 10 minutes of the game the Eagles maintained at least a two possession lead and led by as much as nine points with 3:29 left (83-74) after a jumper by Smith
- A Eudy jumper cut the Winthrop lead to 85-80 with 1:58 left and then after the Eagles missed a couple of layups Clemons drove the lane and slammed one home as he was fouled
- Clemons completed the three-point play and the Eagles lead was down to 85-83 with 44 seconds left
- The Eagles called a timeout with 31.2 seconds left and put the ball in the hands of Smith on the inbound and Smith stepped up and drilled a straight away three to lead 88-83 with 17.9 seconds left
- Clemons looked to answer with a three which was off the mark but he boarded his own miss and found Jordan Whitfield for three from the wing to make it a two-point game again with nine seconds left
- Broman was fouled on the inbound and made both of his free throws (1-and-1) for a 90-86 lead with 5.6 seconds left
- After a timeout Clemons got the ball on the inbound and Pickett blocked his three-point attempt to end the game
- Winthrop continued to shoot the ball well in the second half at 52 percent while holding Campbell to just 30 percent (2-for-15 behind the arc)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- There were four players in the game that reached 20 or more points
- Clemons led all scorers with 34 points while teammate Eudy scored a career-high 25 points
- Smith's career-high of 27 points came after he missed the last two games and is his fourth of the season
- Pickett notched his second 20-point game of the season with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting
- Smith finished the game 12-of-18 from the floor
- Eudy led all players with a game-high seven assists while Clemons dished out six
- Winthrop won the battle on the glass 34-30 and finished with 16 second chance points while the Camels had 11
- Campbell was an impressive 19-for-19 from the foul line while the Eagles were just 8-of-13
- There were seven lead changes in the second half and a total of 12 in the game
NOTABLES
- Winthrop is 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2015-16 and the third time under Pat Kelsey
- The win is the second straight over the Camels and the sixth in the last seven meetings
- Eagles have now overcome a halftime deficit in back-to-back games (both on the road) and the fourth time this season
- In 2017-18 the Eagles only won two games in which they trailed at halftime
- Eagles hit 12 triples in the game and are now 60-15 when hitting 10 or more threes in a game
UP NEXT
The Eagles have a quick turnaround as they'll host High Point on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. in their conference home opener.
