Rock Hill, S.C.— Hunter Hale's career-high 29 points along with a triple-double from
Chandler Vaudrin led Winthrop to a 91-67 win over Longwood to open up Big South Conference action.
WINTHROP (7-7, 1-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
LONGWOOD (5-9, 0-1 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- Christian Wilson (25 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal)
- JaShaun Smith (11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Heru Bligen (8 points, 5 rebounds)
FIRST HALF
- Hunter Hale opened up the scoring as he drilled a three and scored the first six points of the game for Winthrop to gain an early 6-2 lead
- Leading 6-4, Josh Ferguson hit back-to-back threes that led to a quick timeout by Longwood
- After the timeout the Eagles were able to push their lead to 16-4 with 15:09 left following a three-point play from Ferguson
- Lancers got the deficit down to eight points a minute later only to have Hale drain another three
- It was a nine-point lead for the Eagles with 10:18 left in the half at 25-16 but a free throw from Ferguson made it a double-figure lead which the Eagles did not relinquish the rest of the way
- The lead extended to as much as 18 points with on a Charles Falden three as Winthrop led by 13 at the break, 44-31
- Winthrop made eight of its first 14 shots of the half but ended up shooting 39 percent from the floor while Longwood was held to 39 percent as well
- Hale had 21 of his 29 points in the first half
SECOND HALF
- Eagles opened the second half on an 11-0 run courtesy of two threes from Ferguson and one from Micheal Anumba in front of the Winthrop bench
- Winthrop never let up and held its 20-point advantage for the rest of the game, getting the lead as high as 28 with just over two minutes to play
- Vaudrin completed his triple-double on a short jumper in the paint for his 10th point
- Eagles finished shooting 42 percent in the second half while Longwood also shot 42 percent
- D.J. Burns Jr. led the Eagles in second half scoring with 10 as he finished with 12 points in the contest
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 41 percent while Longwood shot 40 percent
- Eagles were 16-for-36 behind the arc (44%) while the Lancers were just 5-of-19 (26%)
- Nine of the 16 threes came in the first half as the Eagles were 9-of-17
- In addition to his triple-double, Vaudrin recorded a career-high six steals
- Christian Wilson led Longwood with 25 points off the bench while the only other player in double-figures was JaShaun Smith with 11
- Hale finished the game 9-of-19 from the floor and 6-for-12 behind the arc
- Winthrop forced 23 turnovers that led to 21 points and finished the game with 14 steals
- Vaudrin led all players with a career-high 12 rebounds
NOTABLES
- Vaudrin posted the first triple-double since Dec. 2, 2017 when Xavier Cooks had 11 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists against Reinhardt
- This was the seventh straight league-opening win for the Eagles
- Hale posted a game-high 29 points to go along with Vaudrin's triple-double and Anders Broman also scored a career-high 29 points to go along with the triple-double from Xavier Cooks
- Vaudrin's triple double was the 13th nationally at the NCAA D1 level and the second one in the Big South this season
- The 16 threes are tied for the second most threes by the Eagles against a Big South opponent
- This was the first time the Eagles had 14 steals in a game since they had 14 against UNC Asheville in an 88-67 win at home on Jan. 6, 2011
UP NEXT
Eagles are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 4 as they travel to Buies Creek, NC to take on Campbell at 2 p.m. looking for a 2-0 start.
