Box Score Boiling Springs, N.C.-- Winthrop men's basketball dropped its second straight contest after a 74-70 loss at Gardner-Webb, Thursday evening at Paul Porter Arena.
WINTHROP (18-9, 12-2 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
GARDNER-WEBB (11-14, 7-6 BIG SOUTH)
SCORING LEADERS
- Eric Jamison Jr. (23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
- Nate Johnson (19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 steals)
- Jaheam Cornwall (17 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles took a 3-0 lead as Micheal Anumba drained a three to knock down the first shot for Winthrop
- Gardner-Webb outscored the Eagles 7-2 to take a two-point lead with 15:43 left after Jaheam Cornwall drilled a three
- Eagles tied the game at 7-7 as Chase Claxton scored at the rim
- Runnin' Bulldogs regained the lead and pushed it to as much as eight points with 9:11 left
- Back-to-back threes by the Eagles cut it to two points as Chandler Vaudrin hit a straight away three and Josh Ferguson knocked down a corner three
- The rest of the way the Eagles kept it a two possession game as Gardner-Webb went into the break with a 30-25 lead
- Eagles shot just 26 percent while Gardner-Webb hit on 52 percent from the field
- Eagles had nine turnovers but Runnin' Bulldogs only scored four of the miscues
- Winthrop dominated the glass with a 26-14 advantage and had 15 offensive boards that led to 11 points
- Winthrop started off the half 1-for-7 from the floor, then was 4-of-17 and finished the half making just 1-of-7 shots
SECOND HALF
- Eagles scored the first basket of the second half as D.J. Burns Jr. hit Ferguson for a dunk
- Gardner-Webb pushed it back to a seven point lead
- Hunter Hale hit a three only to have for a four point deficit only to have Eric Jamison Jr. hit a three from straight on
- Hale's three-point play cut it to 37-33 with 17:24 remaining but Cornwall scored at the rim to push the lead back to six
- A Vaudrin three followed by a Charles Falden jumper in the lane cut the deficit to one at 39-38 with 15:21 to play
- The team's traded baskets for a few minutes and Gardner-Webb slowly pushed its lead to eight points with 9:20 to play after Jamison scored inside
- Russell Jones Jr. responded with a three for the Eagles, but the Runnin' Bulldogs took its largest lead with 8:22 to play as Cornwall drained a corner three
- Eagles answered that with a 7-1 run to make it a one possession game at 60-57 with 6:43 to play as Falden knocked down a three
- Gardner-Webb pushed the lead back to multiple possession but Burns Jr. pulled Winthrop within three at 62-59 with 5:02 left
- After getting a stop, Falden was fouled on the rebound and made two free throws to cut it to one and on the inbound applied pressure forcing a timeout by Gardner-Webb
- Nate Johnson pushed the lead back to three as he drove base line and hit a short jumper for a 64-61 lead
- After a turnover by Vaudrin, Claxton made a big defensive play with a block on the breakaway off the turnover but on the inbound Jamison Jr. scored quickly at the rim
- The lead grew to seven points with 2:21 left after free throws but Falden kept the Eagles close after hitting another triple
- Following the Falden three Johnson drained a right wing three early in the shot clock for a 71-64 lead with 1:44 left
- Falden completed a three-point play after he was fouled knocking down a jumper in the lane to pull within four with 1:29 remaining
- After getting a stop, the Eagles ran a play as Vaudrin penetrated and kicked a pass out to Hale who buried a three to make it a one point game with 34 seconds left
- With a chance to tie or take the lead with less than 20 seconds the Eagles turned the ball over as Johnson stepped to the foul line with 5.2 seconds left
- Johnson's first free throw hit the front of the rim and back of the rim but dropped in and he made the second to seal the game with four point advantage
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop improved its shooting in the second half and finished at 40 percent for the game while Gardner-Webb shot 50 percent
- Winthrop was 9-of-27 from three but just 11-of-18 at the foul line
- While the Runnin' Bulldogs only managed four points off nine Winthrop turnovers in the first half, they scored 19 off 11 second half turnovers
- Winthrop dominated the glass 46-27 (+19) and had 20 offensive rebounds (14 second chance points)
- Eagles were just 4-of-10 on layups in the game while Gardner-Webb was 15-of-22
- Falden led the Eagles in scoring with 13 points off the bench as he scored 13 of the 28 bench points
NOTABLES
- Eagles fall in back-to-back games for the first time in league play this season and just the second time this season
- It is the second straight season the Eagles fell by four points at Gardner-Webb, having lost last year's meeting 64-60 but still have an all-time winning record on road games in the series (9-7)
- The 20 offensive boards were one shy of a season-high, which they pulled down 21 offensive rebounds in the win at Hartford in the season-opener
- Ferguson finished with five rebounds in the game, giving him 691 in his career as he passes Tyrone Walker (690) for fourth all-time and is now just one behind Chad Steele for 3rd place
UP NEXT
Winthrop will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. as it heads down the road to Clinton, S.C. to take on Presbyterian College.
