Rock Hill, S.C.— Chase Claxton's career-high 19 points led four players in double-figures as Winthrop captured its 12
th straight with a 104-71 win over UNC Asheville, Saturday afternoon inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (16-7, 10-0 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
UNC ASHEVILLE (9-12, 3-7 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- L.J. Thorpe (21 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Lavar Batts (19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal)
- DeVon Baker (18 points)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles raced out to an early 14-4 lead behind six points from D.J. Burns Jr. and four points from Chase Claxton
- A Chandler Vaudrin three with 13:33 to play in the half put the Eagles up 11 but a three-point play by DeVon Baker started a 7-1 run capped off by a L.J. Thorpe three, cutting the lead to 18-13
- Kyle Zunic found Claxton for a dunk followed by free throws from Hunter Hale to push the lead back to nine with 11:21 left
- Bulldogs got the Winthrop lead down to four points at 24-20 with a little over nine left after a jumper by Baker in the lane
- Burns Jr. scored off a feed from Micheal Anumba led him right to the paint for a short jumper that started a 10-0 run
- After the Burns Jr. jumper Russell Jones Jr. drained a corner three and then scored off glass on the drive for an 11-point advantage, forcing a timeout by Asheville
- The Eagles weren't done as they forced a turnover out of the break drawing a charge and then free throws from Jones Jr. followed by a Charles Falden three to cap off the run for a 16 point lead with 7:04 left
- With 9:18 left, the Eagles hit 10 consecutive shots as they pushed their lead to as high as 22
- Winthrop shot 64 percent from the floor in the first half, 6-of-11 from three while Asheville shot 45 percent
SECOND HALF
- The opening six and a half minutes the teams were back-and-forth offensively as the Eagles led 65-49
- The Winthrop offense was relentless as it moved the ball quickly, knocked down some shots and continued to score inside
- The lead grew to as large as 38 with a little over four minutes remaining
- Eagles used a 12-2 run midway through the half to push the lead from 20 to 30 as Anumba jump started it with a three
- Jamal King scored all 11 of his points in the second half while Anumba scored all of his nine points in the second as well
- Winthrop shot 55 percent from the floor in the half and was 7-of-12 from three
- Asheville shot 40 percent led by 13 second half points from Thorpe
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles shot a season-high 59 percent and was 13-for-23 behind the arc
- Asheville finished the game at 43 percent shooting and 5-of-16 from three
- Both teams got to the foul line as Winthrop finished 21-for-34 and the Bulldogs were 20-for-32
- Winthrop dominated the glass 43-27 and had 18 second chance points
- Both teams combined for 72 points in the paint as the Eagles had the edge 38-34
- Winthrop took full advantage of 15 turnovers by the Bulldogs converting them to 27 points off turnovers
- Eagles had four players in double-figures and four players that finished with nine points
- Zunic dished out a career-high nine assists and was 1-of-4 players with three or more in the game
- Anumba just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds
NOTABLES
- The win is the 12th straight for the Eagles, tying the third longest win streak in program history
- It is the longest win streak by a Big South school since Coastal Carolina won 21 in a row in 2010-11
- Eagles scored 100 or more points in a league game for the second time this season
- It was the second largest margin (+33) of victory in a league game during the Pat Kelsey Era
- Eagles are 10-0 in the league, which is the best start by a league school since Coastal Carolina started 15-0 in 2010-11
- The 24 assists were the second most this season during league play and the 5th time the team has dished out 20 or more assists in a game this year
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains at home when it hosts Campbell on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. as the game will air live on ESPNU.
