Rock Hill, S.C.— Freshman Russell Jones Jr. returned from a four-game absence to lead Winthrop with a career-high 21 points in an 85-80 win over Elon, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
WINTHROP (6-7, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS

• Russell Jones Jr. (21 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist)
• Charles Falden (15 points, 2 rebounds)
• Hunter Hale (14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)

 
ELON (4-9, 0-0 COLONIAL)
SCORING LEADERS

• Marcus Sheffield II (27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists)
• Hunter McIntosh (22 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal)
• Hunter Woods (11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)

 
FIRST HALF

• Zac Ervin opened the scoring in the game as he knocked down a three as Elon took the early lead
• Chase Claxton tied the game as he dunked, was fouled and completed the three-point play
• Hunter McIntosh responded with a three to give Elon the lead, which it held into the second half
• Elon led 10-8 when it worked its way to a 10-point advantage with 12:45 left
• The Phoenix used an 11-3 run to get to the double-digit lead as Charles Falden's three was the lone Winthrop bucket during the run
• Winthrop answered with an 11-3 run of its own, scoring 10-of-11 points in the paint with the last two coming from Hunter Hale that forced an Elon timeout
• The run made it a two-point game with 7:52 left in the half
• Elon build its lead back to a two possession game over the next five minutes until the Eagles pulled within a point after D.J. Burns Jr. hit 1-of-2 free throws
• Elon scored the final five points of the half to lead 44-38 at the break
• The Phoenix shot 54 percent from the floor (7-of-17 from three) in the first half while the Eagles shot 41 percent

 
SECOND HALF

• Winthrop scored the first basket of the second half as Josh Ferguson scored completed a three-point play to cut the deficit in half
• Elon came right back with a Marcus Sheffield II layup followed by a Zac Ervin triple as the Eagles quickly called timeout
• Out of the timeout, the Eagles turned the ball over that led to a three from Woods and the biggest lead of the game for Elon at 52-41 with 17:30 remaining
• Hale scored on a drive to get it back to single-digits, which ignited an 11-0 run to tie the game at 52-52 with 14:40 to play
• Following the bucket inside from Hale, Charles Falden took over as he scored the next nine points
• Falden was fouled while knocking down two jumpers, completed the three-point plays and then tied the game on a triple off the feed from Chandler Vaudrin
• Sheffield scored inside to put Elon back on top, but Russell Jones Jr. buried a three with 11:53 to play
• With 9:46 left Chuck Hannah put Elon back in front with a three-point play but Hale quickly tied the game at 57-57 seconds later
• The game was tied 70-70 with 3:06 left when Ferguson scored six straight points that started with a corner three and then scored inside while getting fouled as he completed the three-point play
• Eagles even pushed the lead to eight points with 34 seconds left
• Winthrop shot 48 percent from the floor (5-of-10 behind the arc) in the second half while holding Elon to 37 percent

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Elon finished the game at 45 percent from the floor while the Eagles shot 44 percent
• Both teams combined for 59 fouls as the two teams also combined for 72 free throws
• Winthrop finished 26-for-42 (62%) at the line while Elon finished 20-of-30 (67%)
• Elon connected on 12 threes at 36 percent while the Eagles finished with nine (39%)
• Both teams converted at a good rate on turnovers as Winthrop finished with 17 points off 12 Elon turnovers
• Elon had 15 points off 11 Winthrop turnovers
• The battle on the glass went to Winthrop, 38-34
• Jones Jr. scored a career-high 21 points and was 1-of-4 Eagles in double-figures
• Falden scored a season-high 15 points while Hale had 14 and Ferguson added 11
• Sheffield II and McIntosh combined for 49 points, finishing with 27 points and 22 points respectively

 
NOTABLES

• Jones Jr. posted the program's 13^th game of 20 or more points by a freshman with his 21 points
• Eagles have won four straight against Elon and are now 11-2 all-time
• This was the 19^th time in the Pat Kelsey era the Eagles have trailed by 10 or more points in a game and come back to win
• Ferguson finished the game with a team-high eight rebounds and now has 600 in his career
• Ferguson becomes the 58^th player in Big South history to reach 600 career rebounds

 
UP NEXT
Eagles won't be back in action until 2020 when they open up Big South Conference action at home against Longwood on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.