RADFORD, VA— Josh Ferguson scored a game-high 24 points but Winthrop fell 87-81 in a hard fought game at Radford, Thursday evening in Big South Conference men's basketball action.
WINTHROP (17-10, 9-5 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
RADFORD (19-8, 11-2 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
- Ed Polite Jr. (22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block)
- Carlik Jones (16 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals)
- Donald Hicks (12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles raced out to a 10-0 lead highlighted by a three from the wing by Adam Pickett followed by a three-point play from Pickett
- Pickett worked his way into the drew, withstood contact and dropped in a short jumper while being fouled as he completed the three-point play for the 10-0 lead
- Radford responded with 15 straight points that started with a dunk and one by Ed Polite Jr. as he completed the three-point play
- With the Eagles leading 10-5, the Highlanders hit back-to-back threes from Travis Fields Jr. and Caleb Tanner's triple put them in front 11-10
- Jermaine Ukaegbu put an end to the run at the free throw line as knocked down two to make it a 15-12 lead for Radford with 10:45 left
- Radford led 23-18 after a Devon Hutchison with 8:06 left, but the Eagles used a 10-4 run to take a 28-27 lead on a Micheal Anumba stick back off his own miss
- The run was highlighted by a hustle play as the shot clock was winding down the ball loose, Anumba dove for it and kicked the ball out to Josh Ferguson on the wing as he beat the shot clock for a three to pull the team within a point at 27-26
- After Carlik Jones put the Highlanders back on top 29-28, Ferguson hit his third three of the half for a 31-29 lead with 2:42 remaining
- Polite Jr. tied the game at 31-31 with two free throws but the Eagles answered with back-to-back threes from Nych Smith and Austin Awad for a 37-31 lead with 1:35 left in the half
- When it looked like the Eagles could take the lead into the half, Radford raced back to tie the game at 37-37 courtesy of two turnovers from the Eagles
- However, Smith did give Winthrop the lead at the break with a turn-around, fade away jumper at the free throw line with three seconds left
- Eagles shot 43 percent from the floor, 37 percent behind the arc in the first half while Radford shot 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from three
SECOND HALF
- A three from Pickett and basket by Anumba off the drive put the Eagles up 44-39 two and half minutes into the half
- The Eagles held the five point advantage at 49-44 with 15:37 to play after Ferguson drove down the middle of the lane to score on an easy lay-up
- Radford quickly tied the game at 49-49 in 37 seconds as Polite Jr. buried a three and then Fields Jr. scored inside to tie the game
- The two teams continued to go back and forth tying the game or taking the lead time after time as the game was tied at 62-62 after Ferguson dropped in his fourth triple of the game
- Radford's Donald Hicks hit a three for a 65-62 lead with 7:11 remaining only to be matched by Kyle Zunic, who hit an open three from the top to tie the game again
- With 6:04 to play it was Hicks again for a three-point lead and then Hicks stole the ball that led to a Polite Jr. three on the other end and a six-point advantage in a span of 17 seconds, forcing the Eagles to call timeout
- Coming out of the timeout, the Eagles moved the ball around as Ferguson made an extra pass to an open Zunic as he buried the three from the wing
- Jones jumped the passing lane to steal Smith's pass and went the distance for the basket and the foul as he completed the three-point play with 4:54 left to put Radford back on top by six
- Devonnte Holland made it an eight point lead with 4:23 left with a basket inside
- Ferguson hit his 5th triple of the game with 3:41 remaining to get the Eagles within five only to have Radford go back inside to Holland for the bucket at the rim
- Ferguson made two free throws with 3:14 left to make it a five point game and after a miss by Jones had a chance to make it a one possession game but Anumba was called for an offensive foul on the drive
- Jones made a big play on the other end as he drove to the basket on Ukaegbu and with his left hand scooped a shot under the arm of Ukaegbu off the glass and in while getting fouled as he completed the three-point play for an 81-73 lead with two and a half to play
- The Eagles trailed 81-77 with a minute and a half remaining looking to get a stop defensively and nearly got it but Hicks knocked down a three as the shot clock expired for a seven point lead with a minute to play
- Hicks collected a loose ball, took one dribble to his right and launched a three that ripped right through the net
- The Eagles battled to the end but the Highlanders held on to earn the win
- Winthrop shot the ball well in the second half at 50 percent, but Radford shot 61 percent
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Ferguson led all scorers as he was 8-for-11 from the floor, tying a career-best five threes on 5-of-7 shooting behind the arc
- Ferguson came off the bench to lead the team in scoring as the Winthrop bench finished with 45 points
- He was 1-of-4 Eagles in double figures as Zunic had 17 points, Smith finished with 15 and Pickett chipped in with 11
- For the game the Eagles shot 47 percent from the floor and finished 14-for-38 from three (37 percent) while Radford shot 53 percent and was 10-of-21 from three
- Radford finished with a 34-29 advantage on the boards and a 10-5 advantage in second chance points
- The Highlanders generated 22 points off of 13 Winthrop turnovers
NOTABLES
- Winthrop drops the season series with Radford for the first time since the 2014-15 season
- The Eagles hit 14 threes in the game as it tied for the most threes in a loss this season when they fell on the road at PC on Jan. 26
- This was the 21st game of the season that the Eagles hit 10 or more threes in a game and the 12th with 14 or more
- On the season the Eagles now have 338 made threes, which are the 4th most in league history for a single-season
- The 338 threes are just 29 away from cracking the Top 20 all-time in NCAA D1 history
- Winthrop has now shot 40 percent or better on the road in 23 of the last 24 games
- The Eagles have now dropped three straight to Radford as the Highlanders lead the all-time series 40-36
- Finished the game with 18 assists, which are the most in a league game since the conference opener at UNC Asheville on Jan. 5
UP NEXT
Winthrop returns to Rock Hill for its final home game of the regular season when Charleston Southern comes to town on Saturday, Feb. 23 for a 2 p.m. matchup on ESPN3. The Eagles will honor their senior class in a pregame ceremony.
