Radford, Va. – Winthrop overcame an eight point first half deficit to earn an 80-64 win at Radford for a ninth straight road victory, Thursday evening at the Dedmon Center.
The two teams will wrap-up the two-game series on Friday at 7 p.m. as the game will air on ESPN3.
WINTHROP (17-1, 14-1 Big South)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS
RADFORD (13-8, 12-3 Big South)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS
- Fah'Mir Ali (23 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals)
- Dravon Mangum (13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal)
- Lewis Djonkam (8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- D.J. Burns Jr. scored the first six points for the Eagles and a Josh Corbin three tied the game at 9-9
- Radford made its first six shots of the game and led 11-9 after five minutes
- The game remained tight over the next five minutes Radford led by one point following a Chase Claxton finish at the rim
- Shaquan Jules knocked down a jumper in the lane to start a 9-2 run as the Highlanders grabbed their biggest lead at 31-23 with 7:44 to play in the half
- Eagles and Highlanders were scoreless for the next minute and half until Chandler Vaudrin drilled a three that started an 11-0 run as the Eagles led 34-31 with 3:39 left in the half
- The run started with the Vaudrin triple and then Vaudrin found Corbin for back-to-back threes for the lead
- Jamal King topped off the run by boarding a Corbin missed three and scoring inside
- Radford regained the lead briefly with 2:15 left in the half when Fah'Mir Ali hit a three, but Kyle Zunic and Corbin hit threes down the stretch for a 41-36 lead at the break
- Both teams shot well from the floor in the first 20 minutes as Winthrop hit 53 percent from the floor and Radford shot 58 percent
SECOND HALF
- The break didn't slow the Eagles down as they continued to fire on all cylinders with Burns Jr. knocking down back-to-back jumpers and then Vaudrin put the Eagles in front by double-figures with a jumper in the lane
- Vaudrin then came away with a steal and was fouled going to the rim as he made both free throws for 14 straight points and a 49-36 lead with 17:09 remaining
- Winthrop led 51-40 when it continued to bury threes as Russell Jones Jr. hit one from deep and then Burns Jr. kicked a pass out to Micheal Anumba for three and a 57-40 lead
- Over the next nine minutes the Eagles pushed their lead to as much as 19 points on a couple of occasions with the last time at the 5:54 mark after a Zunic free throw
- The Highlanders made a run at the Eagles over the next two and a half minutes to get the deficit down to 10 points at 71-61 as Mangum highlighted the run with two triples
- A Quinton Morton-Rober three cut the Winthrop lead to single-digits with 2:23 to play at 73-64, but the Eagles scored the final seven points to secure the double-figure victory
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles finished the game shooting 49 percent as they were 9-of-25 from three
- Radford was held to 41 percent shooting the second half and finished the game at 50 percent
- The battle on the boards was dominated by Winthrop 38-24 and the Eagles had 16 offensive rebounds that led to a 25-2 advantage in second chance points
- Eagles also finished with 17 points off 15 Radford turnovers
- From the 7:44 mark of the first half when the Eagles trailed by eight points at 31-23 they went on to outscored the Highlanders 40-13 over the next 16 minutes
- The 18 points by Burns Jr. paced four Eagles in double-figures as Corbin (17) and Chase Claxton (10) put up double-figure performances off the bench
- Vaudrin flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, 8 rebounds and seven assists
- Ali scored a career-high 23 points as he and Mangum (13) were the only Highlanders in double-figures
NOTABLES
- The ninth straight road win for the Eagles is the second-best active streak behind Belmont who has won 15 straight
- This was the Eagles second straight win at the Dedmon Center and for the fourth time in the last six trips
- Eagles have now won 15 of their last 16 games on the road
- The win gives Pat Kelsey 180 career victories, moving him into 4th place all alone in Big South history
- It was also the 107th Big South win for Kelsey, who is now two back of Ron Bradley (Radford) for second all-time
- Winthrop now has at least 14 league wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history
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).
