High Point, N.C.—Charles Falden and
Kyle Zunic each scored 14 points off the bench to help lead Winthrop to a 79-57 victory at High Point Wednesday night for a fifth straight win.
WINTHROP (9-7, 3-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
HIGH POINT (3-12, 0-2 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- Cliff Thomas Jr. (14 points, 6 rebounds)
- John-Michael Wright (12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Caden Sanchez (9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- High Point jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead behind a layup from Caden Sanchez and an Eric Coleman Jr. three
- The Panthers led 12-4 with 16:04 on the clock after a Cliff Thomas Jr. jumper, but the Eagles responded with a 13-0 run
- Charles Falden kick started the run with a triple followed by a three-point play from Micheal Anumba
- Kyle Zunic tied the game at 12-12 with 14:15 left as Chandler Vaudrin hit Zunic slashing to the basket for the layup
- The Eagles grabbed the lead as Zunic came away with a steal and dished the ball off to Hunter Hale trailing as he buried a straight away three
- Winthrop capped off the run with a steal by Anumba that led to Vaudrin dishing off to Josh Ferguson for the flush, forcing a timeout by High Point
- Leading 19-16, Thomas Jr. missed the second of two free throws but Jamal Wright boarded the miss and a few seconds later got the ball back and buried a three to tie the game at 19-19 with 7:43 left in the half
- Off a Winthrop turnover, High Point took the lead 22-19 as John-Michael Wright hit a three
- Eagles worked back to tying the game 23-23 with just under six minutes left and an Anumba layup put them ahead
- Eagles grabbed a seven point lead with just over a minute left in the half as Falden drove to the elbow and kicked to Anumba for a right wing three
- The lead extended to nine points with 41 seconds left as Falden stole the ball and found Hale up court for the layup
- Following a free throw by Thomas Jr. with five seconds left, the Eagles pushed the ball quickly as Vaudrin dribbled across midcourt, kicked the ball to his right to Hale who quickly put up a three from about 30 feet away that banked in as time expired for a 39-29 advantage at the break
- Hale's three at the buzzer gave the Eagles a first half shooting percentage of 50 (15-of-30) while High Point shot 47 percent
SECOND HALF
- The teams traded buckets in the early going but the Eagles pushed their lead to 12 on an Anumba three in front of the bench and then Vaudrin drove and kicked out to Falden for a left wing three and its largest lead of the game at 47-32
- The Eagles started to take command of the game as it held High Point 0-for-7 from the floor with a couple of turnovers following the Anumba three to build a 56-35 lead with 12:26 to play
- High Point's John-Michael Wright ended the shooting drought with a basket inside, but Hale answered with a three for a 59-37 lead with 11:51 to play
- Winthrop consistently held a 20 point lead the remainder of the game to earn its third straight win at the Millis Center
- Eagles shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half while holding the Panthers to 34 percent (0-for-10 behind the arc)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 51 percent while holding High Point to 39 percent
- Eagles were 9-for-25 behind the arc while High Point finished 3-of-15 from three
- The teams combined to shoot 57 free throws in the game as Winthrop was 14-of-27 (52%) and High Point was 14-for-30 (47%)
- In addition to Zunic and Falden posting double-figures, Hunter Hale had 14 points while Anumba finished with 11 points
- Anumba finished the game 4-for-4 from the floor (2-for-2 behind the arc), tied for team-high six rebounds and dished out four assists
- Zunic and Falden combined for 28 of the team's 36 bench points
- Winthrop outscored High Point 25-8 over the final 2:34 of the first half until the 14:16 mark of the second half to open up the game
NOTABLES
- The Eagles have now won five straight for the first time since February of 2018
- It is the second straight season the Eagles have started league play 3-0
- The 23 point win was the largest by the Eagles ever in a win at High Point (previous high was 18 in their first ever game at the Millis Center-2/6/99)
- Winthrop now leads the all-time series 31-14 and has won the last four meetings
- Eagles finished with 19 team assists, the second time in three games they've reached that mark
UP NEXT
Winthrop is back home after two straight on the road as it returns to the Winthrop Coliseum Saturday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. to take on Gardner-Webb.
