Audio Highlights (Winthrop Sports Network)
Rock Hill, S.C. – Drew Buggs swished a jumper in the lane with four seconds remaining to lift Winthrop to a 74-72 victory over Campbell in the team's Big South Conference Opener, Monday evening inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (8-6, 1-0 Big South)
SCORING LEADERS
CAMPBELL (7-6, 0-2 Big South)
SCORING LEADERS
- Cedric Henderson (21 points, 3 rebounds)
- Jordan Whitfield (17 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists)
- Jesus Carralero (16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Both teams were hitting shots early as Campbell opened 4-of-5 from the floor and the Eagles were 4-of-6 as the game was tied 10-10 four and a half minutes in
- Leading 12-11, the Eagles put together a 6-0 spurt behind a three from Russell Jones Jr and then a deep three from the left wing by Josh Corbin
- After a Drew Buggs layup in transition, Campbell put together a 10-1 run to take its first lead of the game at 23-21 with 6:35 left in the half after a Jordan Whitfield triple
- The lead was short lived as Cory Hightower responded with a three of his own
- After the lead changed hands a couple more times the Eagles pushed their lead back to seven points with just under three left in the half
- Chase Claxton got the run started with a stick back and then Hightower and Sin'Cere McMahon hit back-to-back threes for the 32-25 advantage
- The Camels came right back with their own 7-0 run and tied the game at 32-32 with 1:14 left
- The game went into the half tied at 35-35 as Austin McCullough hit 1-of-2 free throws in the final seconds
- Campbell shot 48 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes while the Eagles shot 54 percent
SECOND HALF
- Camels hit their first four shots to start the second half, leading to seven point lead at 44-37
- Cedric Henderson opened the half with a long jumper and then drilled a three to cap off the run
- Over the course of the final three minutes of the first half and the opening two minutes and 10 seconds of the second half the Camels outscored the Eagles 15-3
- Trailing by seven with 17:50 left in the half, the Eagles went on a 9-2 run to regain the lead at 46-44 after Patrick Good hit a three from the left wing
- A three-point play by D.J. Burns Jr. with 9:30 to play put the Eagles on top 55-52, but back-to-back threes from Jesus Carralero and Messiah Thompson had the Camels back on top with 7:17 left
- Hightower came through again with another three to tie the game with just under seven to play
- Over the next three minutes the lead changed hand a couple of times but the game was tied again with 4:14 after two free throws from Buggs
- Campbell took the lead back on two free throws from Henderson on a 1-and-1
- That sparked a 6-0 spurt for a 70-64 lead with 2:59 left in the game
- Winthrop started to chip its way back as Kelton Talford made two free throws after getting fouled following an offensive rebound
- After getting a stop, the Eagles came down and Buggs drove down the left side of the lane and kicked the ball into the corner for Hightower for a three that tied the game at 72-72 with 50 seconds left
- The Eagles got another stop as Whitfield's short jumper in the paint was in and out as Buggs collected the rebound
- The Eagles called a timeout with 28.3 left to draw up a play and off the inbound came to Buggs as he let the clock run down until about 13 seconds on the clock
- Buggs went down the right side of the lane, but then dribbled across the lane under the basket as he worked his way back to the middle of the paint just in front of the free throw line hit a turn-around jumper with four seconds left
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Both teams shot well from the floor as Winthrop finished at 51 percent and Campbell shot 50 percent
- Eagles finished with 11 threes as Hightower accounted for five of them as the team was 11-of-28
- Rebounding advantage favored the Eagles 32-26 as they had 10 offensive boards and 15 second chance points
- Points in the paint were even at 26-26 and the teams combined for just 11 fast break points
- Talford and Good led the Winthrop bench with eight points each
- In total the game was tied 14 times and there were 10 lead changes
NOTABLES
- This was the ninth straight home win for the Eagles, who improve to 20-17 all-time in Big South openers
- Winthrop has now won eight straight versus Campbell in the series and 12 of the last 13 meetings
- It was the 750th win all-time for the Winthrop program and the 450th all-time home win
- The Eagles are 19-1 in their last 20 games played in the month of January
- Hightower tied his career-best with five threes and his eight rebounds in the game pushed him past 600 in his career (602)
- Eagles are now 8-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points
UP NEXT
Winthrop is back in action in two days when it hosts UNC Asheville on Thursday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. The game will air live on ESPNU.
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).
