Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop overcame a 15-point deficit to capture an 88-85 overtime victory over Mercer, Saturday afternoon inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (2-0)
SCORING LEADERS
- Patrick Good (20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 steals)
- D.J. Burns Jr. (16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
- Russell Jones Jr. (15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals)
- Cory Hightower (17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
MERCER (0-2)
SCORING LEADERS
- Felipe Haase (41 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 steals)
- Neftali Alvarez (28 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists,)
- James Glisson III (6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Josh Corbin opened up the scoring on a reverse layup on a back door feed from Micheal Anumba
- After two free throws from Felipe Haase tied the game Drew Buggs buried a corner three for a 5-2 lead
- Winthrop led 7-4 after a an Anumba basket, but Mercer responded with a 10 straight points to build a seven point advantage at 14-7 with 14 to play in the half
- D.J. Burns Jr. ended the run with a hook in the lane and the Eagles worked down the deficit to a point when Patrick Good jumped in front of a pass and dished to Sin'Cere McMahon on the break as he drilled a three to trail 17-16
- Mercer led 27-25 when it reeled off six straight points for a 33-25 lead with 4:31 left
- The Bears ended the half on an 11-2 run for a 38-27 lead at the break
- Eagles shot just 37 percent from the floor while the Bears hit on 56 percent from the field including 3-of-5 behind the arc
SECOND HALF
- Bears extended their lead to 15 points just over two minutes into the half after a basket at the rim by Lii Glisson
- Trailing 53-40, the Eagles reeled off 10 straight as Jones Jr. took over
- After a put back by Burns Jr., Jones Jr. stole the ball at midcourt and went to the other end for the basket and cut the lead to single digits
- Then Jones Jr. came up with another steal at midcourt as he pulled up for three from the left wing and buried a three to make it a six point game with 12 minutes left
- After a backcourt violation, Jones Jr. drove the lane and kicked out to Cory Hightower in the corner for a three and a one possession game
- Mercer answered with six straight to get the lead back near double-figures at 59-50 with 10:38 remaining
- With just under eight minutes to play the Bears held a 64-56 lead when the Eagles went on a 7-2 run to make it a one possession game at 66-63
- The run started with a defensive stop as Drew Buggs blocked a shot by that led to a finish by Patrick Good on the other end
- Then a three by Jones Jr. followed by a finish on the break by Burns Jr. made it a three-point contest
- Eagles had a couple of good looks to tie the game from Good and Jones Jr. but couldn't get the shots to fall only to have Haase hit a three for a six-point lead for Mercer
- Burns Jr. made it a four point game and then Anumba closed the gap to two points after scoring off the drive down the left side of the lane
- On the ensuing possession Good stole the ball and then pulled up for three and the lead at 70-69 with 3:08 to play
- Haase answered with his sixth triple of the game to regain the lead for Mercer, followed by two more threes for a 78-70 lead with 1:19 left
- Trailing by nine Good hit a three and then came away with a steal that led to two free throws by McMahon as Mercer led 79-75 with 34 seconds left
- After a layup by Jones Jr., Mercer called timeout trying to inbound the ball
- Out of the timeout the Eagles stole the inbound at midcourt as McMahon jumped in front and then pushed the ball forward to Good as he pulled up and tied the game with a right wing three with 13.6 seconds left
- Mercer had the final possession of regulation as Neftali Alvarez drove on the baseline and pulled up for a short jumper that was short off the rim
- Alvarez boarded his own miss and as he went back up for a jumper Chase Claxton blocked the shot out of bounds as time expired
OVERTIME
- Both teams had a two-point lead in the overtime session and the game was tied 84-84 with 2:02 left
- Good was fouled on a straight away three attempt, but could only get one free throw to fall as the third one rattled out as the Eagles led 85-84 with 1:19 remaining
- With the game tied at 85-85 the Eagles had possession with a little over 30 seconds to play
- As the shot clock was winding down Buggs found Hightower at the top of the key as he splashed a three with 4.2 seconds to play
- Eagles fouled with 1.8 left as Alvarez stepped to the line but missed the first off the right side of the rim and after intentionally missing the second Anumba secured the rebound for the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 62 percent in the second half and overtime combined to finished the game at 52 percent
- Mercer shot 50 percent for the game and won the battle of the boards 41-35
- Eagles were 14-for-30 behind the arc while the Bears were 9-for-23
- Haase led all scorers with 41 points as he was 13-of-18 from the floor and 7-for-9 behind the arc as he also nabbed 10 boards for a double-double
- Good led four Eagles in double-figures with 20 points after not scoring in the first half
- Hightower had 17 points, Burns Jr. had 16 and Jones Jr. added 15
- Eagles received 57 points from their bench
NOTABLES
- Eagles are 2-0 for the second straight season
- The last time the Eagles came back from 15 points down in a game was the 2020 Big South Conference Title game against Hampton (3-8-20)
- It was the first time overcoming a double-digit deficit to win in overtime since 2016 at Illinois
- This was the fourth straight overtime win for the Eagles, who have also won five of the last seven games that have gone into overtime
- Eagles have now won five straight home games
- In the last 50 games the Eagles are 45-5
- This was the 399th victory for the Eagles inside the Winthrop Coliseum (399-156)
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).
