ROCK HILL, SC— Adam Pickett hit two free throws with five seconds remaining in double overtime to lift Winthrop to an 80-78 victory over Charleston Southern, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
WINTHROP (18-10, 10-5 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS

• Adam Pickett (20 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist)
• Bjorn Broman (15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals)
• Josh Ferguson (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists)

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (13-14, 7-7 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS

• Christian Keeling (22 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal)
• Phlandrous Fleming (15 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks)
• Ty Jones (14 points, 7 rebounds)

FIRST HALF

• Charleston Southern hit three of its first five shots and forced three turnovers to lead 6-1 in the early going
• Back-to-back threes from Austin Awad and Adam Pickett put the Eagles in front 7-6 three and a half minutes into the game
• The lead changed hands a couple of times before the Bucs went on a 10-0 run powered by eight points from Christian Keeling as he capped off the run with a three for a 19-10 lead with 11:50 left
• Josh Ferguson ended the run with a three, only to be answered with a three from Nate Louis
• Trailing 24-16 with 9:38 left in the half the Eagles used a 9-0 run for a 25-24 lead two minutes later
• It was a Ferguson three in transition that started the run as Charles Falden and Bjorn Broman followed with threes for the one point lead
• The game was tied at 32-32 with 1:30 left and a three-point play from Adam Pickett with 52 seconds left gave the Eagles a 35-32 lead at the break
• Charleston Southern shot just 32 percent in the first half while the Eagles shot 38 percent

SECOND HALF

• The Bucs scored the four points of the half to take a 36-35 lead that was quickly back in Winthrop's favor after a three-point play from Nych Smith
• That was the theme of the second half as the lead changed hands or was tied several times
• The largest lead of the second half for either team was a four-point advantage for the Eagles with 2:45 to play
• Ty Jones scored inside off a nice feed from Phlandrous Flaming and then Ferguson's jumper put the Eagles back on top by four before the Bucs scored the final two baskets of the half to force overtime
• Leading 68-66, the Eagles turned the ball over and Dontrell Shuler drove down the right side of the lane and banked in a shot with 19 seconds to play
• The Eagles had a chance to win the game but as Smith dribbled the ball was knocked away and the clock expired as the game was tied 68-68
• Eagles shot 43 percent in the second half while the Bucs shot 40 percent

OVERTIME

• Micheal Anumba hit 1-of-2 free throws in the first overtime for a 69-68 lead but Keeling knocked down a long jumper for a 70-69 lead
• Neither team scored for the following three minutes and 29 seconds until Keeling hit 1-of-2 free throws with 19 seconds to play
• Pickett drove the lane and hit a contested jumper with five seconds left to tie the game at 71-71
• Charleston Southern pushed the ball up the court and a pass led Jones to a good look for a deep three as it banked off the glass and rimmed out
• Each team came up empty on their first possession of the second overtime until Broman pulled up for a deep straight away three for a 74-71 lead
• After Jones hit two free throws, Broman stepped up and drilled another three for a 77-73 lead with 2:32 remaining
• Pickett made it a five point game with 1:38 to play but a jumper in the paint by Jones cut it to three with 1:21 left
• After a missed three from Travis McConico to tie the game with 33 seconds left, the Bucs fouled and Pickett went to the line but missed both to keep it a one possession game
• The Bucs put the ball in Keeling's hands and he came through as he pulled up from straight away several feet behind the arc as the ball swished through the net with 15 seconds to play
• After a timeout to set up a play, Pickett drove down the right side of the lane and was fouled with five seconds to play
• Pickett hit both free throws for the 80-78 lead and then as the Bucs pushed the ball up the court Broman came away with a steal to seal the game
• Eagles held the Bucs to just 3-of-13 shooting in the overtime periods and 1-for-8 behind the arc

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Winthrop shot 40 percent for the game while the Bucs were held to 34 percent
• Charleston Southern won the battle of the boards 51-48 with 16 offensive rebounds
• Keeling was 1-of-2 Buccaneer players with a double-double as he finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds while Fleming had 15 points and 10 rebounds
• Pickett led the Eagles with 20 points, Broman had 15 and Ferguson added 14 but got contributions from several different players
• It was Senior Day for the Eagles as Jermaine Ukaegbu and Awad made the most of their starts
• Ukaegbu grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and finished with four points while Awad had six points and six rebounds

NOTABLES

• This was the first overtime game of the season for the Eagles and the first in a 60-game span
• This was the first double overtime game the Eagles played in since Feb. 9, 2017 in a 104-101 loss at UNC Asheville
• It was the program's first win in double overtime since Feb. 18, 2006 when the Eagles defeated Northern Illinois 98-97 at the Winthrop Coliseum
• This was the 15^th double overtime game in program history as Winthrop is now 6-9 all-time
• Broman hit four threes in the game and now has 217 in his career which moves him past Andre Smith and into 6^th all-time
• Have now won 17 of the last 18 meetings over Charleston Southern at home
• Connected on 14 threes for the game and have now hit 10 or more in 13-of-15 league games
• Eagles now have 352 triples on the year, which moves the team into 3^rd most in a single-season in Big South history (VMI holds the top two spots at 442 and 438)
• Winthrop now has 10 or more league wins in the last six seasons
• Eagles are now 3-1 against Charleston Southern in overtime and are 8-2 all-time in games decided by two points or less

UP NEXT
Winthrop will wrap-up its regular season on the road as it travels to Hampton, VA to take on Hampton on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The game will air live on ESPNews.