Elon, N.C. – Winthrop fell 63-61 at Elon Wednesday night as Jerald Gillens-Butler hit a three with one second remaining in the game.
WINTHROP (6-5)
SCORING LEADERS
ELON (3-8)
SCORING LEADERS
- Michael Graham (13 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
- Hunter Woods (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals)
- Hunter McIntosh (9 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists)
FIRST HALF
- Elon scored the first basket on a layup by Michael Graham but the Eagles responded with seven straight points highlighted by a three-pointer from Patrick Good off a turnover
- The Eagles led 10-4 at the first media timeout (15:47) with four different players getting in the scoring column
- Out of the media timeout neither team scored for two minutes until Josh Corbin drilled a three and was fouled as he completed the four-point play for a 14-4 lead with 13:40 left in the half
- A D.J. Burns Jr. stick back made it a 9-0 run by the Eagles, who outscored the Phoenix 16-2 over a five minute span
- Following the Burns Jr. bucket, the Eagles went cold from the field as they were just 1-for-9 over nearly a seven minute span
- Eagles emphatically ended that cold streak as Cory Hightower lobbed a pass for Kelton Talford who finished off the alley-oop for a 25-17 lead with just under five left in the half
- Leading 30-22 with five seconds left the Eagles missed a three from Good as Elon rebounded the miss and timeout was called due to an injury with one second remaining
- Out of the timeout, Elon set up a play to Hunter McIntosh who drained the right wing three at the buzzer as the Eagles led 30-25 at the break
- Nine of Winthrop's first 16 points in the game came off turnovers
- After hitting 6-of-10 from the field to open the game the Eagles finished shooting 37 percent in the second half while Elon was held to 32 percent
- Winthrop held the Phoenix 2-of-11 from the floor in the final 7:45, which included the quick shot off the inbound with one second left at the end of the half
SECOND HALF
- Elon used a 7-0 run early on to tie the game at 32-32 with 16:30 to play
- The first seven possessions of the second half for the Eagles included four turnovers with three on consecutive possession
- Elon scored its final five points of the run off turnovers including the three from Chuck Hannah that tied it
- After Talford went 1-of-2 at the line, the Eagles got a defensive stopped but then turned ball over for the fourth time in five possessions
- On the ensuing possession Graham finished at the rim with a dunk for a 34-33 lead, Elon's first lead since scoring the first basket of the game
- After a three by Good cut the Elon lead to 41-39 with 10:21 to play, the Phoenix scored the next five points for its largest lead with 7:33 to play (46-39)
- Elon led 48-42 when Good knocked down another three with 5:45 to play to make it a one possession game
- Eagles had a chance to make it a one or two point game with four and a half remaining but Good was called for an offensive foul
- Elon took advantage as McIntosh scored on a pull up jumper to push the lead to 53-47 with just under four minutes to play
- Good was fouled on a three-point attempt with 3:32 to play as he stepped up and knocked down all three to make it a one possession game
- A free throw by McIntosh made it a four point advantage but Drew Buggs found Anumba for three and it was a two point game with 2:32 left
- Elon answered with a three of its own as Hunter Woods drilled a three to put the Phoenix back on top by five
- On the ensuing possession Burns Jr. hit 1-of-2 at the foul line and then the defense got a stop that led to a Russell Jones Jr. triple with 58 seconds to play
- Elon called timeout and coming out Woods was fouled with 56 seconds left and made both free throws for a 60-57 lead
- Eagles went down and scored as Burns Jr. was fouled with 47 seconds and made both free throws to cut the deficit to one again
- Elon called another timeout to set up a play as Darius Burford couldn't get a shot to fall off the drive as Cory Hightower boarded the miss and the Eagles called timeout with 19 seconds remaining
- The Eagles got the ball into Burns Jr. as he knocked down a hook shot with 9.9 seconds remaining to put the Eagles on top 61-60
- Jerald Gillens-Butler hit a left wing three with one second left to give the Phoenix a 63-61 victory
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 38 percent while Elon shot 52 percent in the second half to finish the game at 42 percent
- Winthrop forced 16 turnovers and had a season-high 11 steals
- Battle of the boards went to the Eagles with a slight 34-32 edge
- Both teams combined to go 13-of-35 on layups
NOTABLES
- Buggs matched his season-high in assists with six, hauled in a season-high seven rebounds and matched a career-high with four steals
- Gillens-Butler hit one shot in the game, which was the game-winning three
- Burns Jr. posted his third game of the year with 20 or more points and 7th time of his career
UP NEXT
One more game before the Eagles take some time off for the Christmas holiday as they'll head to Jackson, Miss. to take on Mississippi State on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
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).
