Rock Hill, S.C.– Sin'Cere McMahon and Cory Hightower each scored 20 points to lead Winthrop to a 76-68 victory over Middle Tennessee State, Saturday afternoon inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (2-1, 0-0 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Cory Hightower (20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
- Sin'Cere McMahon (20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists)
- Kelton Talford (14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block)
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (1-1)
STAT LEADERS
- Deandre Dishman (14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals)
- Camryn Weston (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals)
- Eli Lawrence (11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block)
FIRST HALF
- Sin'Cere McMahon opened the scoring in the game with a three for the early lead
- Four straight points by Cory Hightower put the Eagles up 7-2 at the 15:14 mark
- With 12:57 left in the half McMahon found Howard Fleming Jr. open for three on the wing as he drained it and was fouled
- Fleming Jr. converted the four-point play 15-7 lead
- The leaded extended to 12 points at 20-8 with 9:53 left after a three from Hightower
- The Blue Raiders cut the Winthrop lead to seven points with 6:45 left in the half but a three-point play by Fleming Jr. followed by jumpers from Hightower and McMahon forced a Middle Tennessee timeout
- Eagles were able to keep their double-digit lead into the break at 41-28
SECOND HALF
- Deandre Dishman hit 1-of-2 free throws to open the second half scoring
- Winthrop followed up with a 7-0 spurt highlighted by a three-point play from Kelton Talford for its largest lead of the game at 48-29
- A bucket inside by Talford put the Eagles up 18 with 10:27 remaining
- A jumper by Camryn Weston sparked an 13-0 run to trail 57-52 with 5:54 to play
- After the Weston jumper the Blue Raiders attacked the basket with layup by Dishman and then back-to-back dunks off the drive by Tyler Millin and Dishman
- The run was capped off by a Weston layup to make it a two possession game
- After the Weston basket, the Eagles answered with a triple from Hightower
- The Winthrop lead was down to five again with 2:29 to play when McMahon drained two free throws followed by a defensive stop that led to a straight away three by McMahon to push the lead back to double-digits
- Middle Tennessee was within four points with 39 seconds left but the Eagles finished off the game 6-for-6 from the line to hold on for the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor, 7-of-17 from three (41 percent)
- Eagles held the Blue Raiders to 38 percent shooting and 19 percent behind the arc (5-of-27)
- Both teams combined for 49 fouls and 61 free throw attempts
- Blue Raiders had the advantage on the glass 42-34 and 17-2 in second chance points
- The Eagles finished 27-for-31 at the free throw line (87 percent)
- Middle Tennessee doubled up the Eagles in the paint, 36-18
- McMahon and Hightower tied for a game-high 20 points
- Talford added 14 points and Fleming Jr. chipped in with 11 points
NOTABLES
- The win extends the home winning streak to 18 straight games, third best home win streak in program history
- Have now won 28 of the last 29 home games
- Hightower had five rebounds and surpassed 700 career rebounds
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).
