HAMPTON, VA— Josh Ferguson led four Winthrop players in double figures with 18 points but Winthrop fell 90-75 at Hampton, Thursday evening in its final game of the regular season.
WINTHROP (18-11, 10-6 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
HAMPTON (13-14, 7-7 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
- Jermaine Marrow (22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists)
- Greg Heckstall (16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Trevond Barnes (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block)
FIRST HALF
- Hampton led 5-2 in the early going but the Eagles used a 7-0 run to build a 9-5 lead as Josh Ferguson tipped the ball away to force the turnover that led to a Nych Smith layup on the other end
- The Pirates responded with six straight behind a couple of threes as Jermaine Marrow's step back three capped off the run
- Then it was Winthrop's turn as it reeled off eight straight points that started with a corner three from Kyle Zunic and capped off by a right wing three from Bjorn Broman for a17-11 lead with 13:32 left
- A basket off the drive by Kalin Fisher ended the Winthrop run and ignited a 16-0 run by Hampton in the span of three and a half minutes for a 27-17 lead
- The Eagles made seven of their first 10 shots, but a cold streak from the field hitting 1-of-12 which helped lead to the double figure advantage for the Pirates
- The shooting slump extended to as much as 1-for-14 with several shots going in and out or bounced around the rim a couple of times before rolling off
- Hampton extended its lead to as much as 16 but the Eagles cut it to 12 points by the break as Josh Ferguson scored with two seconds left but missed the free throw to complete a three-point play
- Hampton shot 49 percent from the floor to lead 46-34 at halftime while the Eagles shot 41 percent
- Eagles were just 4-for-18 from three while Hampton hit 7-of-19 behind the arc
SECOND HALF
- The Eagles opened the second half on a 10-4 run and were within six points at 50-4 with 15:45 left
- It was a quick five points for the Eagles as Smith scored at the rim off glass and then Adam Pickett drained a right wing three
- Following a bucket by Marrow on the drive, Ferguson drained a three in transition followed by two Charles Falden free throws to cut the deficit to six
- With 13:09 the Eagles made it a six point game again as Micheal Anumba hit a three but Greg Heckstall answered with a three to push the lead back to nine
- Smith took a handoff from Ferguson right in front of the Eagles bench and pulled up for a contested three and knocked it down to push it right back to a six point game
- Hampton did push its lead back to double figures at 62-52, but Winthrop responded with another three as Ferguson knocked one down from the left wing
- Marrow answered the Ferguson three with one of his own from the wing to put the Pirates up 65-55
- The Pirates maintained a steady 4-5 possession lead but a Pickett three with 3:35 to play had the Eagles within eight points at 76-68
- The Pirates finished the final 3:09 outscoring the Eagles 14-7 to earn the 15 point victory
- Winthrop shot 44 percent from the floor in the second half (7-of-16 behind the arc) while Hampton shot 43 percent
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- For the game the Eagles finished at 42 percent from the field while Hampton was 46 percent from the floor
- Hampton shot 87 percent from the foul line at 20-for-23 while the Eagles were 14-of-21 (67 percent)
- Winthrop edged the Pirates on the boards 39-38 as Hampton had 12 second chance points on nine offensive boards while the Eagles had three points on 11 offensive rebounds
- Marrow led all scorers with 22 points (8-for-24 shooting) as he was 1-of-4 Pirates in double figures
- Heckstall had 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Pirates
- Ferguson led the Eagles with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting as he was 4-for-8 behind the arc and also finished with eight rebounds
- Smith finished with 15 points while Pickett and Broman had 14 each
NOTABLES
- Eagles finish the regular season 7-8 on the road overall and 4-4 in the league
- Winthrop knocked down 11 threes in the game, which was the 23rd game (program record) of the year with 10 more as it hit 10 or more in all eight league road games
- On the year the Eagles have 363 three-pointers made, which is four away from cracking the Top 20 all-time in NCAA D1 history for a single-season
- The Eagles hit 10 or more threes in 14-of-16 league contests, which is also a program record
- Broman is now 18 points away from becoming the 25th player in program history to score 1,000 career points
- Eagles had won three straight over the Pirates and now lead the all-time series 5-3
UP NEXT
Winthrop will now wait for the regular season to come to a close on Saturday to find out when its next contest will be and who it will be against. The Big South Tournament seeds will be announced following the end of the final game between High Point and UNC Asheville (4:30 p.m. tip) on Saturday.
