Rock Hill, S.C. – Cory Hightower led five players in double-figures with 16 points to lead Winthrop to an 81-70 win at Gardner-Webb, Wednesday evening in Big South Conference men's basketball action.
WINTHROP (18-8, 11-2 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
GARDNER-WEBB (15-12, 9-4 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Lance Terry (21 points, 2 steals)
- Zion Williams (15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals)
- Kareem Reid (10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles turned the ball over on their first two possessions as Gardner-Webb took advantage to jump out 5-0
- On the third Winthrop possession D.J. Burns Jr. got the ball in the post and bodied his way to the rim and scored to trail 5-2
- Eagles trailed 8-2 after an Anthony Seldon three, but came back to tie the game at 11-11 with 13:25 to play in the half
- Drew Buggs gave the Eagles their first lead at 13-12 at the 12:39 mark as he dropped in a shot inside the lane
- It was a one point game at 28-27 with the Eagles in the lead with 4:05 to play
- Patrick Good buried a corner three while getting fouled and completed the four-point play for a 32-27 lead with 3:38 left
- After a made free throw from Terry Lance, the Eagles scored five straight points capped off with a pull-up three in transition by Sin'Cere McMahon for a 37-28 lead to force a Gardner-Webb timeout
- Winthrop led 37-32 at the break behind 54 percent shooting while holding Gardner-Webb to 39 percent
SECOND HALF
- Over the first four minutes and 34 seconds of the second half the teams were a combined 10-for-13 shooting
- The Eagles opened 6-of-8 and 4-for-4 behind the arc
- Leading 45-39, Cory Hightower hit his second three of the half and then drilled another with 15:36 left for an 11-point advantage to force a Runnin' Bulldogs timeout
- A 5-0 spurt by Gardner-Webb made it a six-point game, but a Buggs layup and three from Good put the Eagles back on top by 11 with 13:28 remaining
- Winthrop led 65-58 with 5:18 to play when both defenses stepped up with a couple of blocked shots and then a steal that led to a dunk attempt for Gardner-Webb in transition
- Terry missed the dunk, hung on the rip and then grabbed the ball to slam it home but was called for a technical for hanging on the rim
- Good made the technical free throw and then Anumba scored on a drive with a short jumper to push the Winthrop lead to 68-58 with just under four minutes remaining
- The Runnin' Bulldogs pulled with five points with 1:11 to play but the Eagles finished the game 9-of-12 at the foul line to ensure the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 44 percent in the second half and finished the game at 49 percent as it was 12-for-28 behind the arc
- Gardner-Webb shot 48 percent in the second half to finished at 43 percent in the game
- Eagles were +10 on the glass (38-28) as four Eagles finished with five or more rebounds
- In the second half alone the Eagles had a 23-12 advantage on the boards
- Points off turnovers favored Gardner-Webb 16-11 as Winthrop had 13 turnovers and the Runnin' Bulldogs committed just nine
- Anumba finished 8-of-10 at the foul line as Winthrop was 19-for-24 on free throws
- Hightower led five Eagles in double-figures with 16 as Good finished with 15, Anumba had 13, Buggs 12 and McMahon added 11
NOTABLES
- Eagles improved to 11-2 in the league and hold a two-game advantage in the South Division standings with three games to play
- This was the fifth straight win as the Eagles have won four of the five by 10 or more points
- This was also the fifth straight win against Gardner-Webb in the series
- Winthrop has now won 23 of its last 26 road games in league play
- Hightower surpassed the 1,000 career point mark in the Big South (1,004) and now has 1,267 career points
- Buggs finished with 12 points in the game and is now 13 points away from 1,000 in his career (987) and is now just five assists away from 600
UP NEXT
Eagles head to Asheville, N.C. to take on UNC Asheville on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 4:30 p.m. in the final regular season road contest.
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).
