Rock Hill, S.C.— Winthrop's winning streak came to an end at 14 straight after it nearly erased a 27-point second half deficit in an 81-77 loss to Radford, Monday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (18-8, 12-1 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
RADFORD (15-9, 10-2 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- Carlik Jones (20 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal)
- Donald Hicks (11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Travis Fields Jr. (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles jumped out to an early 7-0 lead started by a Chandler Vaudrin basket at the rim
- Micheal Anumba followed with a three on a nice pass from D.J. Burns Jr., who then knocked down a jumper on the ensuing possession
- Carlik Jones ended the run for Radford's first bucket scoring off the drive
- The game was tied 10-10 with 15:25 left in the half when the Highlanders went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes
- Eagles responded with an 8-0 run that started with Russell Jones Jr. finding Chase Claxton for the slam
- Anumba buried a three followed by a Hunter Hale three to make it a one point game with 11:29 left in the half
- It was a five point game after Claxton made 1-of-2 free throws but the Highlanders outscored the Eagles 14-4 over the final four and a half minutes to lead 46-31 at the break
- Eagles were held to 37 percent shooting in the first half while Radford was 55 percent from the floor
- Radford outscored the Eagles 24-8 in the paint in the first half
SECOND HALF
- Radford extended its lead over 20 in the early going of the second half as Fields Jr. opened up the scoring with a three and then Jones knocked down a jumper for a 51-31 lead
- The lead grew as much as 27 at 62-35 with 14:06 to play after Jones made two free throws
- This is when the Eagles began to chip away at the deficit
- Vaudrin found Hale for three and then whipped a pass to Anumba for three to make it a 19 point game
- After a Radford basket from Lewis Djonkam, the Eagles reeled off six straight points to make it a 15 point deficit with 10:17 left
- Another Hale three cut the Radford lead to 13 and then his basket at the rim with 8:30 left made it a 10 point game
- Radford answered with a Devonnte Holland basket followed by a jumper at the elbow by Jones
- Following a dunk from Devine Eke for a 14 point lead, Josh Ferguson scored inside followed by a Charles Falden three as the deficit was down to single-digits
- Winthrop trailed 79-70 with 2:11 to play in the game when Vaudrin cut the deficit to seven and then a Jones Jr. three cut it to four with 1:45 left
- The Eagles got a stop on the defensive end and Vaudrin took the ball right to the post and scored to make it a one possession game at 79-77 with 1:01 remaining
- Winthrop got another stop and had a chance to tie the game as Jones Jr. drove to the rim and his shot was blocked by Holland, who was then fouled and made two free throws for a four point lead with 11 seconds to play
- Eagles shot 49 percent from the floor in the second half, including 8-of-17 from three while Radford hit 54 percent
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- For the game the Eagles finished at 43 percent from the floor while the Highlanders finished at 55 percent
- Winthrop was 13-of-35 behind the arc while the Highlanders were 5-for-19
- Radford missed its first three shots of the game and then connected on 21 of the next 32 (66%)
- Eagles hit seven threes over the final nine minutes of the game
NOTABLES
- Winthrop's winning streak ends at 14, the third longest in program history
- Hale led all scorers with 24 points, his third 20-point game in league play
- Winthrop had 10 or more threes in a league game for the fourth time this season and the ninth time overall
UP NEXT
Winthrop hits the road for its next two contests beginning with a trip to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. The game will air live on ESPNU.
