Cancun, Mexico– Winthrop men's basketball fell 77-52 to Southern Mississippi on the opening day of the Cancun Challenge at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Tuesday afternoon.
WINTHROP (2-4, 0-0 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Sin'Cere McMahon (16, points, 1 rebound, 1 assist)
- Kelton Talford (14 points, 5 rebounds)
- Isaiah Wilson (8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists)
SOUTHERN MISS (5-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
STAT LEADERS
- Austin Crowley (22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals)
- Denijay Harris (12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
- DeAndre Pinckney (8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Southern Miss jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind layups from Mo Arnold and Felipe Haase
- Eagles scored their first buck at the 16:25 mark as Kelton Talford rebounded a missed and scored on the stick back
- The Talford basket sparked an 8-0 run by the Eagles to take the lead 8-6 at the 14:50 mark
- Sin'Cere McMahon scored the last six points of the run with back-to-back triples
- The Golden Eagles regained the lead at 10-9 after Victor Hart scored at the rim
- Winthrop used an 8-2 run to open up its largest lead at 18-12
- The run started with another three from McMahon followed by free throws from Xavier McKelvy and Chase Claxton
- Consecutive threes by Austin Crowley and Nico Aguirre tied the game at 18-18 with 8:47 left in the half
- Southern Miss jumped back in the lead when Aguirre hit another three for a 21-20 lead and then finished off a pass off a turnover by the Eagles to lead 23-20
- Talford scored inside to put the Eagles back in the lead at 28-27 with 2:23 to play
- With the final possession, Isaiah Wilson hit a three as time expired to put the Eagles up 34-30 at the half
- Eagles shot 46 percent in the half while holding the Golden Eagles to 32 percent shooting
SECOND HALF
- Talford scored inside to get things started in the second half
- Talford scored again to lead 38-34, but Southern Miss responded with a 10-0 run for a 44-38 lead
- Crowley scored the last six points of the run that he capped off with a steal and dunk
- Eagles pulled within two points after free throws from McMahon and Wilson
- Crowley hit a three followed by a jumper from Denijay Harris who then stole the ball and finished with a dunk to push the Southern Miss lead to 51-42
- The Eagles chipped away at the deficit and were within six after a Wilson three
- The Golden Eagles responded with a 9-2 run to push the lead to 62-49 with 7:54 remaining
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Eagles shot 19 percent from the floor in the second half and finished at 34 percent for the game
- Southern Miss shot 68 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game at 48 percent
- Eagles were 1-of-7 from three in the second half and finished the game 5-for-19 while Southern Miss was 7-of-19
- Winthrop finished 21-for-27 at the foul line (78 percent)
- Golden Eagles edged Winthrop 34-30 on the glass and a 13-10 advantage in second chance points
- Eagles finished with a season-high 22 turnovers that led to Southern Miss holding a 27-9 advantage in points off turnovers
NOTABLES
- Cory Hightower moved past 1,400 career points (1,402) and now has 1,139 points combined from his days at PC and now Winthrop
UP NEXT
Winthrop will face Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 12:30 p.m. in its final game of the Cancun Challenge.
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)
