Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop will take on Southern Mississippi Tuesday afternoon in its opening game of the Cancun Challenge.
WINTHROP (2-3, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
0 |
Sin'Cere McMahon |
6-1 |
Jr. |
11.0 |
1.8 |
2.5 |
0.3 |
Career-high 24 points at Mercer / 68 career threes / matched career-high 4 assists vs. Piedmont |
| G |
21 |
Isaiah Wilson |
6-1 |
Jr.. |
5.8 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
1.2 |
Started first five games / tied for team-high 6 steals / dished out career-high 4 assists vs. Piedmont |
| G/F |
12 |
Cory Hightower |
6-7 |
R-Sr. |
13.7 |
5.3 |
3.5 |
1.0 |
Missed game at Mercer / Preseason All-Big South 1st Team / 1,395 career points, 706 career rebounds / Had 17 against Mercer last season |
| F |
33 |
Chase Claxton |
6-7 |
Sr. |
2.5 |
3.5 |
1.8 |
1.5 |
Missed game at Mercer / Played in 91 career games / Tied career-best 3.8 rpg last season / Career-high 4 assists vs. Piedmont |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Jr. |
17.0 |
9.2 |
0.4 |
0.8* |
Career-high 23 points vs. Piedmont / Posted double-doubles vs. Piedmont and at Auburn / career-high 14 rebounds at Auburn |
* (blocks per game)
SERIES HISTORY
This is the first time the Eagles have faced Southern Mississippi. Eagles have never faced Fort Wayne/Eastern Michigan, their potential second day opponents
Prosser vs. Southern Mississippi: 0-1 | Fort Wayne 0-0 | Eastern Michigan 0-0
THE CANCUN CHALLENGE
- The Eagles are part of an eight team event being held at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico, Nov. 22-23
- The tournament field is split into two brackets with the Eagles placed in the Mayan Division with Fort Wayne, Eastern Michigan, and Southern Mississippi
- The other bracket is the Riviera that includes Bradley, Auburn, Liberty and Northwestern
- There are four games taking place each day beginning at 12:30 p.m.
MAYAN DIVISION SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022 (Cancun, Mexico)
12:30 p.m. | Fort Wayne vs. Eastern Michigan
3 p.m. | Winthrop vs. Southern Mississippi
Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022 (Cancun, Mexico)
12:30 p.m. | TBD vs. TBD | Mayan Third Place Game
3 p.m. | TBD vs. TBD | Mayan Championship Game
WINTHROP
- Winthrop looking to end a two-game skid after road losses at #13 Auburn and Mercer
- Kelton Talford leads the team in scoring (17.0) and rebounding (9.2)
- Talford is 1-of-4 Eagles scoring in double-figures as Sin'Cere McMahon is second with 13.6 ppg, Toneari Lane 3rd at 13.2 ppg and Cory Hightower is averaging 12.5 ppg
- McMahon is coming off a career-high 24 points in the loss at Mercer, his second 20-point game of the season
- Talford is 5th in the Big South in scoring while he leads the league in rebounding and field goal percentage (.767)
- Lane is 2nd in the league in three-point field goals per game (3.3) and three-point field goal perentage (.548)
- Coming off a 23-9 campaign that saw the team reach the Big South Title game for a third straight season before falling to Longwood
- Have won 23 or more games in three straight seasons
- Return five players that saw action in 2021-22, two that sat out and welcome eight newcomers
- Voted to finish second in the Big South Conference preseason poll
- Finished the 2021-22 season ranked 14th in bench scoring (28.6 ppg)
- Cory Hightower was voted to the preseason All-Big South First Team
- Hightower is the top returning scorer at 11.8 ppg and led the team with 5.5 rpg last season
- Kelton Talford is the second-leading scorer returning at 8.5 ppg and was second on the team in rebounding at 4.8
- In the last four seasons the Eagles are a combined 72-23 (.757)
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (207) since the 2012-13 season
- Mark Prosser starts his second season as head coach of the Eagles, the 7th head coach in program history
- Led the team to 23 wins, the most by a first-year head coach in program history
- Prosser tied Towson State's Terry Traux (1992-93) for the most conference wins by a first-year coach with 14
TUNE IN TO THE EAGLES
Fans can listen to the games all season long on OTS Media of Rock Hill (94.3 FM), which is the flagship station for Winthrop Athletics. In addition, most games will simulcast on 730 ESPN Charlotte and AM 1450 WGNC Gastonia.
All home games as well as all Big South games home or away are available to watch through the Big South Network on ESPN+. To watch live Big South games on ESPN+, you need a subscriber. For more information how to subscribe,
click here.
UP NEXT
Eagles will play on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 12:30 p.m. with a win and a loss would put them in the 3 p.m. game and face either Fort Wayne or Eastern Michigan.
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).
