ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop overcame a 14-point first half deficit as it fought back to earn a 93-85 victory over Presbyterian College, Wednesday evening inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (17-8, 9-3 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE (15-12, 7-5 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
- Francois Lewis (23 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal)
- Adam Flagler (23 points, 1 block, 1 steal)
- Cory Hightower (16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks)
FIRST HALF
- The Blue Hose came out firing from all over and led 13-4 just shy of three minutes into the game
- Francois Lewis drilled a three for the first basket of the game but the Eagles came right back with a Nych Smith bucket at the rim
- Devon Bell set up Cory Hightower for an easy two followed by a three from Adam Flagler for an 8-2 advantage
- After Bjorn Broman drove all the way to the basket for two, Lewis scored inside followed by a three-point play from Hightower for the 13-4 lead
- Adam Pickett ended the run with a three, only to be matched by Hightower to push the lead back to nine points
- Pickett came right back for a three-point play of his own as he drove the lane and was fouled and completed the play with a made free throw
- The Blue Hose made their first seven shots of the game to help build the early lead
- Lewis continued to stroke it from three as he buried back-to-back for a 12-point lead and the lead went to 14 points after two free throws from Lewis
- Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit in half at seven points as Pickett continued to get to the rim followed by an Austin Awad three in transition and a Zunic jumper in the lane
- PC pushed its lead back to double figures and back to 12 with 10:58 left
- A couple of Bjorn Broman threes got the Eagles within six points but the Blue Hose pushed it back to double figures at 37-27 with 7:48 remaining in the half
- In less than two minutes the Eagles turned the 10-point deficit into a tie game at 37-37 as the 10-0 run was capped by back-to-back threes from Broman
- Flagler gave PC the lead right back with a jumper in the lane, a lead it held the rest of the half for a 48-46 lead at the break
- A Charles Falden three with six seconds left made it a one possession game at the half
- Winthrop shot 50 percent in the half while PC shot 47 percent
- PC was an impressive 9-of-14 from three in the half while the Eagles were 7-for-18
SECOND HALF
- Falden began the second half the way he ended the first by knocking down a three for a 49-48 lead
- That was the first of seven lead changes in the second half
- Flagler answered with a three and then Smith tied the game at 51-51
- Micheal Anumba's jumper inside put the Eagles in front as they held the lead for nearly four minutes when Lewis scored inside to tie the game at 62-62 with just over 14 remaining
- The lead changed hands four times over the next eight minutes and the game was tied 79-79 with 6:17 left after Chris Martin completed a three-point play
- A 6-0 run by the Eagles behind three baskets at the rim by Smith, Broman and Pickett made it a two possession game
- After Hightower made two free throws with 2:24 left to make it a four point game, Smith buried a three from the wing with 1:26 to play for an 88-81 lead
- Winthrop shot a little better in the second half, hitting 53 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three
- Eagles held PC to 32 percent shooting in the second half and just 3-for-17 behind the arc
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop nearly had three 20-point scorers as Pickett (23) and Smith (22) reached the mark as Broman just missed with 19
- Falden joined the trio in double figures with 14 points, 11 of which came in the second half
- Hightower was the fourth PC player in double figures with 16 points as he also pulled down eight rebounds
- Eagles not only finished with 13 threes but outscored the Blue Hose 38-26 in the paint
- PC did take advantage of 13 Winthrop turnovers for a 24-12 advantage in points off turnovers
- PC finished the game 12-for-31 from three as the two teams combined for 25 triples in the game
- Pickett's 23 points ties his career-best for points in a conference game and his 12 rebounds were a career-high
NOTABLES
- Smith has 20 or more points in back-to-back games and now in four of the last five games
- Eagles have now won 11 of the last 12 meetings with the Blue Hose
- Winthrop improves to 10-3 on the year, which is the seventh straight season with 10 or more wins at home
- Winthrop is now 83-20 all-time in the Winthrop Coliseum under Pat Kelsey
- Kelsey is now two wins away from tying Duggar Baucom (VMI) for 8th all-time in Big South history for overall wins
- Eagles have now hit 11 or more threes in 10-of-12 conference games
- Winthrop set the program record for threes in a single-season with 314, passing the old mark of 313 set by the 2016-17 team
- Broman's 19 points puts him within 58 points of 1,000 in a career
UP NEXT
Winthrop will be on the road for its next two contests beginning with a trip to Boiling Springs, NC on Saturday, Feb. 16 when it faces Gardner-Webb at 5 p.m. The Runnin' Bulldogs are a perfect 10-0 at home this season.
