Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop men's basketball dropped a hard fought battled to Coastal Carolina Saturday night at the Winthrop Coliseum as it fell 92-88 to its former Big South Conference foe.
WINTHROP (4-5, 0-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
COASTAL CAROLINA (6-4)
SCORING LEADERS
- DeVante Jones (32 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals)
- Keishawn Brewton (23 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals)
- Tyrell Gumbs-Frater (9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Coastal led 5-1 in the early going but just shy of five minutes into the game the Eagles doubled up Coastal 14-7
- Micheal Anumba drilled a three to make it a 5-4 game and start a 7-0 run
- After a Tommy Burton bucket inside, Josh Ferguson drilled back-to-back threes for a 14-7 lead
- With 11:42 on the clock DeVante Jones scored on a jumper in the lane to make it a three-point lead for the Eagles
- Chandler Vaudrin worked his way into the paint and knocked down a jumper to ignite a 7-0 run
- The run was capped off by a jumper inside by Ferguson for a 26-16 lead with just under nine left in the half
- After a Tyrell Gumbs-Frater jumper the Eagles responded as Jamal King drained a three for an 11-point advantage
- Winthrop led by as much as 12 in the half and led 47-39 at the break
- Winthrop shot 48 percent from the floor (6-for-18 from three) while Coastal connected on 46 percent of its shots in the first half (just 2-for-8 behind the arc)
SECOND HALF
- It was a good start to the second half for the Eagles as Vaudrin opened the half with a three followed by a Ferguson jumper for a 13-point advantage
- Following a three from Gumbs-Frater, Ferguson answered right back with a triple followed by a drunk from Ferguson for a 57-42 lead with 17:50 to play
- D.J. Burns Jr. knocked down a jumper in the lane to lead 59-44 with 16:52 left but Coastal responded with a run over the next three minutes to cut the Winthrop lead to seven points
- Winthrop pushed its lead back to 12 points after two Burns Jr. free throws, but once again Coastal made a run and this time made it a one possession game
- Keishawn Brewton bookended a 9-0 run with threes while Gumbs-Frater provided the triple in the middle to make it a 65-62 Winthrop lead with 11:51 remaining
- The run was answered by back-to-back threes from Ferguson and Kyle Zunic, forcing a timeout by the Chanticleers
- Coastal chipped away at the Winthrop lead until it took an 81-80 lead with 2:41 to play
- Burns Jr. knocked down a short jumper only to have Brewton drain a contested three for an 84-82 lead with 1:54 left
- Ferguson countered with a three from the wing to put the Eagles on top 85-84 with 1:46 on the clock
- Jones put Coastal back on top 87-85 as he drilled a contested three from the wing
- Vaudrin hit a three with 56 seconds remaining for an 88-87 lead but Jones came up big for Coastal again, scoring a bucket inside
- Coastal came away with a couple of defensive stops, but Josh Peterson went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 12.1 to play as the Eagles had a chance
- After the made free throw for a 90-88 lead, Peterson snuck in and stole the inbound pass and was fouled as he stepped up and hit both free throws for a 92-88 lead with 11.7 left
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Chanticleers shot 56 percent in the second half to finish the game at 51 percent
- Winthrop shot 46 percent for the game and connected on 13 threes
- Coastal only hit two threes in the first half but was 9-of-13 behind the arc in the second half as it finished 11-for-21
- Both teams combined for 34 turnovers as Coastal committed 19 that led to 20 points for the Eagles and Winthrop committed 15 that led to 24 points for the Chanticleers
- The battle of the boards was level at 36-36 as Winthrop finished with an advantage in second chance points of 11-4
- Ferguson came off the bench for a career-high 32 points as he was 12-of-20 from the floor, 6-for-12 behind the arc
- Vaudrin dished out a career-high 10 assists and once again flirted with a triple-double with 12 points and seven rebounds
- Jones led Coastal with 32 points as he was 12-of-12 at the free throw line and dished out a team-high seven assists
NOTABLES
- This was the 83rd meeting all-time between Winthrop and Coastal as the Chanticleers now lead the series 43-40
- Eagles had won the previous four meetings against Coastal at the Winthrop Coliseum
- Winthrop entered the contest ranked 28th nationally in assists per game at 16.5 and dished out 20 against Coastal
- Vaudrin also led the Big South in assists per game entering Saturday night's game at 5.9 per game increased his average to 6.4
- Ferguson was the first Eagle to score 30 points or more in a game since Nych Smith scored 35 points at Presbyterian College on Jan. 26, 2019
UP NEXT
Eagles are back on the road as they'll travel to Fort Worth, TX on Wednesday, Dec. 11 to take on Texas Christian at 8 p.m.
