Clinton, S.C. – Winthrop tied a program record with its 19
th straight win after defeating Presbyterian College 72-58, Tuesday evening inside the Ross E. Templeton. The streak ties the 2006-07 team that won 19 straight games and the streak now leads the nation, one ahead of Gonzaga.
WINTHROP (14-0, 11-0 Big South)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS
PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE (3-6, 1-4 Big South)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS
- Rayshon Harrison (17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
- Winston Hill (14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
- Owen Mccormack (10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist)
FIRST HALF
- The game was scoreless until Kelton Talford finished with a dunk off a feed from Russell Jones Jr. at the 17:38 mark
- Eagles then forced a turnover and Talford scored inside again with a short jumper
- Chandler Vaudrin made two free throws to make it an early 6-0 lead for the Eagles
- Rayshon Harrison knocked down a baseline jumper to get PC on the board at the three minutes and 57 seconds into the contest
- Micheael Anumba attacked the basket and scored off glass for an 8-4 lead, but PC responded with a run to take the lead that started with another baseline jumper from Harrison
- Then Brandon Younger hit a right wing three for the lead at 9-8
- Adonis Arms interrupted the run with an elbow jumper, but the Blue Hose reeled off six straight points for a 15-10 lead as Winston Hill completed a three-point play and Harris drilled a three
- Arms Arms ended a 9-2 run by knocking down a corner three as Charles Falden found him open off the drive as the Eagles trailed 15-13 with 11:39 left in the half
- PC missed its first three shots but then made 8-of-11 to help build its 21-18 lead with a little over nine minutes to play
- The teams continued to battle and trade buckets over the next three minutes as PC held on to a one possession lead until Talford scored on a short jumper for a 25-24 lead with 6:01 remaining
- After Hill tied the game on a basket inside the Eagles took a 28-26 lead as Falden found Vaudrin off the drive for a straight away three
- With the game tied 28-28, Talford stole the ball and went the length of the court as he attacked the rim and scored
- Defense led to the Eagles leading at the half as another steal led to points as Russell Jones Jr. poked the ball away from Zeb Graham, ran the break and passed the ball off only to get it back on the right wing as he drained a three for a 33-28 lead with 35 seconds left
- The Blue Hose looked to make it a one possession game before the break, but the Eagles got a stop as Jamal King boarded the miss and quickly put the ball in Vaudrin's hands who pushed the ball up the court quickly and scored at the rim as time expired for a 35-28 lead
- Winthrop shot 50 percent from the floor in the half while holding the Blue Hose to 2-for-10 shooting over the final 7:21 to finish at 39 percent
SECOND HALF
- Owen Mccormack opened the second half scoring by connecting on a right win three, but the Eagles came right back with a basket inside from D.J. Burns Jr.
- Following a defensive stop Falden boarded a miss and ended up scoring on the end as he attacked the rim for a layup and an eight-point advantage
- Winthrop pushed its way to a double-figure lead as Falden hit a triple for a 48-38 advantage with 14:43 left
- Two free throws by Vaudrin with 10:52 left put Winthrop ahead by 12 points, but PC made a run to cut it in half
- The Blue Hose run began with a step back three by Harrison, who then went 1-of-2 at the line to cut the deficit to eight points
- Brandon Younger made it a six point game with 9:20 to play after a second chance point opportunity as he followed a miss by Harrison
- Burns Jr. hit 1-of-2 free throws followed by a Falden layup on a second chance opportunity and another 1-for-2 trip to the line by Burns Jr. had the Eagles back up by double-figures in a little over a minute
- Eagles held at least an 8-10 point advantage over the next few minutes and then a Burns Jr. basket inside sparked an 8-0 run as the Eagles turned defense into offense
- After the Burns Jr. bucket, Falden stole a lob pass and hit Vaudrin for a layup to lead 64-52 with 6:29 left
- Then Talford stole the ball near the free throw line and had daylight to the other end as he finished with a strong dunk
- Falden stole the ball again and pushed the ball ahead to Talford who quickly hit Vaudrin cutting to the basket for the soft dunk and a 16 point advantage with 3:35 remaining
- Eagles pushed their lead to as big as 18 points with 1:34 after Arms knocked down two free throws
- Winthrop shot 57 percent in the second half despite going 1-of-7 behind the arc and held PC to 35 percent shooting
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- For the 7th time this season the Eagles shot 50 percent or better from the field finishing 27-for-51 (53%)
- Winthrop defense held its opponent under 60 points for a second straight game as it finished with 22 points off turnovers and held PC to 37 percent shooting
- Eagles doubled-up PC in the paint 40-20 and had a 35-25 advantage on the glass
- Fastbreak points favored the Eagles 20-6
- Vaudrin came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 18 points as he also finished with four rebounds and five assists
- Talford had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go along with three rebounds, one assist and two steals
- Falden and Burns Jr. chipped in with 10 points
- The Winthrop bench contributed with 45 points as Vaudrin, Talford, and Arms combined for 39 points off the pine
NOTABLES
- The 19 straight wins is tied for the longest win streak in program history and longest in the Pat Kelsey Era
- The Big South Conference record for consecutive wins is 21 set by the 2010-11 Coastal Carolina team
- Winthrop is currently one win ahead of Gonzaga in the streak and a win tomorrow would put them ahead by two as the Zags aren't back in action until Saturday at home against Pacific
- Kelsey now has 104 Big South wins all-time, which ties former Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall (104) for the third most in conference history
- Winthrop has now won 13 straight Big South regular season games dating back to the 2019-20 season
- It was also the 177th victory in Kelsey's career, as he's now two back of Cliff Ellis for 4th all-time in Big South history
- Winthrop is 11-0 in league play for a second straight year (Eagles started the 2019-20 season 12-0)
- Eagles have held the last two opponents under 60 points and haven't allowed more than 61 points in the last three games
- Over the last two seasons the Eagles are a combined 16-0 in the month of January
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop men's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@Winthrop_MBB), Instagram (@Winthrop_MBB) and Facebook (/WinthropEagles).
