N. CHARLESTON, SC— Charles Falden and
Josh Ferguson each scored 17 points to lead Winthrop to a 76-72 victory at Charleston Southern, Thursday evening in Big South Conference action.
WINTHROP (15-8, 7-3 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (10-12, 4-5 BIG SOUTH)
STAT LEADERS
- Dontrell Shuler (16 points, 3 rebounds, 5 steals)
- Christian Keeling (9 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal)
- Philandrous Fleming (14 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles got off to an early 6-1 lead as they hit three straight shots after starting the game 0-for-4
- The Buccaneers started the game 0-for-5 but then scored nine straight points for a 10-6 lead with 12:55 left
- Winthrop aided the Bucs ability to make the 9-0 run as it started the game 3-for-14 from the floor
- Nych Smith knocked down a jumper and Josh Ferguson scored inside to tie the game at 10-10 with a little over 11 minutes left
- The team's traded baskets and the lead a couple more times before Charleston Southern opened up a nine-point lead with five and a half remaining
- Austin Awad drained a three for a 16-15 lead, but Phlandrous Fleming answered right back with a jumper for a 17-16 lead
- Fleming's jumper ignited a 12-1 run to lead 27-18 as Christian Keeling capped off the run with a three-point play
- Ferguson stopped the run as he buried a three that was followed by an Adam Pickett three to make it a one possession game in less than a minute
- Pickett scored at the rim with 4:26 left to pull the Eagles within a point at 27-26
- The game was tied at 33-33 with 39 seconds left after Smith hit an elbow jumper but Travis McConico scored off glass on a drive down the right side of the lane with 11 seconds left to give Charleston Southern the lead at the break
- Winthrop finished the half shooting 41 percent while Charleston Southern shot 43 percent
SECOND HALF
- Charleston Southern opened the second half with a triple from McConico for a 38-33 lead
- Pickett responded almost immediately for the Eagles as he knocked down a three that started an 8-0 run
- Ferguson scored in the paint and Charles Falden drilled a three for a 41-38 lead with 17:50 left
- Nate Louis tied the game at 41-41 as he drained a three as both teams opened the second half shooting well
- With 15:34 left Dontrell Shuler made 1-of-2 free throws for a 45-43 lead, but the Eagles went on a 7-0 run for a 50-45 lead
- The Eagles continued to shoot the ball well behind the arc and pushed their lead to 56-49 with 10:20 to play after Kyle Zunic knocked down a three
- Zunic then made a defensive play on the other end, drawing a charge and a couple of possessions later the Winthrop lead was nine at 58-49
- After Fleming hit a three to make it a six-point game with 7:55 to play, Falden scored back-to-back buckets in the lane for a double-figure lead at 62-52
- Deontaye Buskey cut the deficit back to single-digits with six minutes to play but the Eagles hit back-to-back threes from Ferguson and Smith for a 14-point advantage
- Winthrop extended its lead to as much as 16 points with 3:53 left, but Charleston Southern stormed back to make a game of it down the stretch
- The Bucs picked up the pressure and forced six Winthrop turnovers to make it a five point game at 73-68 with 2:01 left
- It was an 11-0 run by the Bucs with seven points coming directly off turnovers
- Two free throws by Bjorn Broman stopped the run and gave the Eagles a seven point lead but the Bucs quickly scored to cut it back to five with 1:22 remaining
- It was a three-point game with 17 seconds to play after Keeling made two free throws, but Broman hit the front end of a one-and-one to make it a four point game with 16 seconds left and Charleston Southern missed three attempts behind the arc
- Eagles were hot behind the arc in the second half going 8-for-15 and shot 55 percent from the floor in the half
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Falden, Ferguson and Pickett were the only Eagles in double-figures as Smith just missed with nine points
- Winthrop hit 13 threes in the game, but also won the battle in the paint with a 30-24 advantage
- For the game the Eagles shot 48 percent from the floor, 45 percent behind the arc while Charleston Southern shot 42 percent and 31 percent behind the arc
- Broman led the Eagles with five assists in the game while Pickett had four and Ferguson had three
- Winthrop finished with a 39-35 advantage on the boards as its starting five accounted for 33 of the team's 39 rebounds
- Falden made his second career start and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds
- In the game there were eight lead changes and the score was tied six times
NOTABLES
- Winthrop now has four wins on the road in league play and have come back to win all four of them after trailing at the half
- This was the fourth straight win for the Eagles at the Buc Dome
- Winthrop hit 13 threes in the game, which is the 17th game of the season with 10 or more
- Eagles have hit at least 11 threes or more in all five road contests in league action
- Winthrop is now 33-9 all-time against the Bucs when scoring 70 or more points
- Broman hit one three in the game and is now eight threes behind 6th all-time in program history which is held by current graduate assistant coach Andre Smith
- This was the first time in the last 19 meetings that the team that led at halftime did not win
- Pat Kelsey now has 75 Big South regular season wins and is now just two games back of 7th place for all-time conference wins
- Eagles have now shot 40 percent or better in 22 consecutive road games
UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home for a matchup with Big South newcomer Hampton on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. in the Winthrop Coliseum.
