Spartanburg, S.C. – Winthrop's second-half rally fell short as it dropped its Big South Conference opener with a 70-62 loss at USC Upstate, Thursday evening at the G.B. Hodge Center.
WINTHROP (5-9, 0-1 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
USC UPSTATE (6-6, 1-0 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Ahmir Langlais (15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks)
- Justin Bailey (13 points, 2 rebounds)
- Mysta Goodloe (10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Sin'Cere McMahon opened the scoring with a left wing three and then Kelton Talford scored inside for an early 5-3 lead
- The Spartans went on a 7-0 run to double up its lead 10-5 with 14:28 left
- Winthrop ended the run with a corner three by Cory Hightower, but then the Spartans reeled off six straight points to lead 16-8 and forcing a Winthrop timeout
- Out of the time the Eagles turned the ball over that led to a three on the other end by Mysta Goodloe
- The 9-0 run was ended by Kasen Harrison converting two free throws with 11:33 on the clock
- Those free throws sparked a 10-2 run by the Eagles that was capped off by a three from Harrison, to trail 21-18
- The Eagles pulled within two points at 22-20 after Howard Fleming Jr. hit two free throws with 7:53 remaining
- Upstate outscored the Eagles 12-4 over the final 7:37 of the half to lead 34-26 at the break
- Winthrop shot just 29 percent in the first half while Upstate connected on 54 percent from the field
SECOND HALF
- Harrison hit two free throws in the early part of the second half, but Upstate responded with a 10-0 run to build its largest lead at 44-28 with 15:32 to play
- The Eagles opened the second half 0-for-8 from the floor, until Talford grabbed a pass from Hightower and scored at the rim
- Talford was fouled in the process and converted the free throw for the three-point play to trail 44-31 with just over 15 to play
- Upstate pushed its lead to 17 points at 50-33 after two free throws by Ahmir Langlais with 13:07 to play
- The Eagles chipped away at the lead to make it a one possession game with 7:23 remaining in the game
- It started with Hightower completing a three-point play after the Spartans went up 17 as he scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to 12 with 11:23 left
- Hightower's layup that cut the deficit to 12 started a 9-0 run capped off by a three from Chase Claxton on the win as deficit was down to seven with 10:34 remaining
- With 7:23 to play, Hightower knocked down a jumper to pull within 55-52
- Upstate's Khydarius Smith missed two free throws to give the Eagles a chance to make it a one point game or tie it up but Goodloe pulled down the offensive rebound and was fouled
- Goodloe made both free throws to make it a two possession game again
- McMahon's score off the drive with 6:42 left pulled the Eagles within three again, but that was as close as Winthrop got
- With 1:23 to play the Eagles pulled within five points after Fleming Jr. hit two free throws and then got a defensive stop
- The Eagles got two good looks from three as Hightower and Claxton couldn't get their shot to fall
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 30 percent for the game and finished 8-of-21 on layups
- Upstate finished the game shooting 52 percent despite going 4-for-13 behind the arc
- Eagles were 24-for-31 at the foul line while the Spartans were 16-for-32
- Winthrop finished with 15 turnovers, but just one over the final 13 minutes which helped chip away at the Upstate lead
- Upstate had a 38-22 advantage on points in the paint and points off turnovers were nearly even as the Spartans had an 18-17 edge
- Second chance points were even at 12-12 as Winthrop finished with 14 offensive boards and Upstate had 12
- The Eagles had three players foul out while Upstate had two and the two teams combined for 51 fouls
NOTABLES
- The Eagles win streak against Upstate came to an end at 12 straight
- Winthrop had 14 offensive rebounds, the second-most in a game this season (the season-high is 16 at Auburn)
- Talford extended his streak of double-digit scoring to 13 straight games as he finished with 10
- Hightower extended his streak of double-digit scoring to eight straight and also surpassed 750 career rebounds
UP NEXT
Winthrop will host UNC Asheville on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. in its Big South home opener. It's Community Day at the Winthrop Coliseum as all tickets are half price at $6.
STAY CONNECTED
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