ROCK HILL, SC— For the first time in 12 seasons the Winthrop men's basketball team is 3-0 in Big South play after earning a 80-63 win over High Point, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
The victory was the third straight for the Eagles and the third straight win over High Point.
WINTHROP (11-5, 3-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
HIGH POINT (8-8, 2-1 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- Jahaad Proctor (22 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
- Ricky Madison (15 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Brandonn Kamga (11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles jumped out to an early 5-0 lead behind a jumper in the lane from Kyle Zunic followed by a three from Austin Awad
- High Point worked its way back to a 9-9 tie at the 16:08 mark after Brandonn Kamga worked his way into the paint for a layup
- The Kamga bucket inside was the second basket in an 8-0 run by the Panthers to grab a 15-9 lead with 14:51 left
- Bjorn Broman scored four points in a 6-0 spurt that tie the game at 15-15 with 13 minutes remaining in the half
- The two teams battled over the next six minutes with each team taking the lead but a Broman three put the Eagles up six with 6:43 left
- Kamga answered the Broman three with one of his own, but the Eagles followed suit with a 6-0 run
- Micheal Anumba started the run as Kyle Zunic laid off a pass to Anumba cutting to the basket for the lay-in
- Nych Smith then hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Eagles a 34-25 lead with just under five left
- Winthrop took a seven-point advantage in to the half at 39-32
- Winthrop shot 47 percent in the first half while High Point shot 39 percent
- Smith had 12 of his team-high 19 points in the first half
- Despite both team's strong efforts defensively neither team was careless with the ball as the two teams combined for seven first half turnovers
SECOND HALF
- High Point had the better start to the second half as Kamga opened up the scoring with a jumper in the lane
- Austin Awad responded with a three but a Proctor jumper and three from Jamal Wright made it a one-point game with 17:46 remaining
- After both teams missed on their ensuing possessions Josh Ferguson buried a three, the first of three in a row by the Eagles
- Broman hit the second and then Ferguson hit another as the Eagles extended their lead to eight in just over two minutes, forcing a timeout by High Point
- Two free throws by Ricky Madison made it a six-point game but the Eagles scored the next four points on back-to-back baskets by Adam Pickett for a double-figure lead at 55-45 with just over 12 minutes left
- The Panthers were able to worked the Winthrop lead back down to seven points with 9:48 left but threes from Broman and Awad along with a tough basket inside by Smith had the Eagles on top by 14 at 66-52
- Winthrop maintained its double-figure lead the rest of the way
- Eagles were solid from the field in the second half as well shooting 47 percent and holding High Point to 31 percent
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Smith paced the Eagles off the bench with 19 while Broman scored his 18 points off the bench as well for a 37-4 advantage in points from the bench
- Winthrop shot 47 percent in the game despite shooting just 30 percent from three while High Point finished at 35 percent shooting
- Winthrop had a slight edge on the boards at 40-39 but the Panthers had 11 offensive boards turned into 12 points
- Jahaad Proctor led all scorers with 22 points as he was a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line
- Winthrop held the Panthers to 5-of-25 shooting (20 percent) in the final 15:45 of the game, including 0-for-8 in the final five minutes
NOTABLES
- This is the first time the Eagles have started 3-0 in league play since the 2006-07 season
- Winthrop held its opponent under 40 percent shooting in the second half for the 3rd straight game and second straight game holding them to 31 percent or lower
- Eagles have now won five straight home games and the last 19 wins at home have been by double-figures
- When hitting 10 or more threes the Eagles are now 61-15 in the Pat Kelsey era
- Over the last three seasons the Eagles are now 26-5 in the month of January
- This was the first time since Southern Illinois the Eagles led at the half as they are now 7-0 on the year when doing so
UP NEXT
The Eagles will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. when they host Longwood at the Winthrop Coliseum.
