Rock Hill, S.C. – Sin'Cere McMahon and
D.J. Burns Jr. combined for 28 points to lead Winthrop to a 64-54 victory over North Carolina A&T, Thursday night in a Big South Conference ESPNU Wild Card game.
WINTHROP (14-8, 7-2 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (9-14, 4-5 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Marcus Watson (11 poitns, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Demetric Horton (10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal)
- Collin Smith (9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- The Aggies had the Eagles doubled up in the early going at 8-4, with all eight points coming off turnovers
- Russell Jones Jr. pulled the Eagles within one with a corner three and then Drew Buggs scored at the rim for a 9-8 lead with 15:14 left
- Aggies came right back off a Winthrop turnover as Harry Morrice drilled a straight away three for an 11-9 advantage
- That three led to a 7-0 run as the Aggies jumped on top 15-9 with 12:07 left as Marcus Watson scored on a reverse layup to force a Winthrop timeout
- The run extended to 9-0 before the Eagles ended a six minutes scoring drought on a little floater on the baseline by D.J. Burns Jr.
- Winthrop trailed 25-20 when Kelton Talford battled for the ball inside, collected it and scored off the glass while getting fouled as he converted the three-point play to make it a two-point game
- Aggies scored five straight to push the lead to seven points at 30-23 with 48 seconds left, but Micheal Anumba hit two free throws with 37.7 seconds left to cut it to five
- A free throws by Collin Smith with 4.1 seconds remaining gave N.C. A&T a 31-25 lead at the break
- Winthrop shot just 35 percent from the floor while the Aggies shot 40 percent
SECOND HALF
- Sin'Cere McMahon opened the second half with a three as the Eagles chipped away at the deficit and were within 35-33 with 15:57 left to play
- Chase Claxton collected a loose ball on the ground and whipped a pass from his back to Jones Jr. as he knocked down a straight away three
- The Eagles got a defensive stand despite two offensive rebounds and off their own offensive rebound took a 36-35 lead on another three from McMahon
- A layup off an inbound by Jamal King tied the game at 38-38 with 10:59 to play and ignited a 9-0 run
- King hit two more free throws for four straight points followed by a Drew Buggs pull up three at the top of the key and ended with Buggs finding Burns Jr. for the easy layin as the Eagles led 45-38 with 9:39 to play
- Burns Jr. split two defenders down the middle of the paint with a spin and finish off glass as he was fouled
- Burns Jr. missed the free throw to complete the three-point play but the Eagles led by eight at 49-41 with 6:47 left
- The Aggies cut the deficit to three points at 53-50, but Burns Jr. had another response
- Burns Jr. got the ball in the paint, spun toward the basket and muscled his way to a layup and the foul as he completed the three-point play
- The teams traded free throws as the Eagles led by six with 2:10 remaining
- Following an Aggie turnover, McMahon hit a floater from the baseline for a 60-52 lead
- Off the made basket, Buggs stepped in the way of the inbound for the steal and McMahon was fouled as he knocked down both free throws for a double-figure lead with 34 seconds left
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 52 percent from field in the second half to finish at 43 percent for the game
- In the second half the Eagles were 4-of-8 from three and finished the game 8-for-19
- Both teams finished with 10 turnovers a piece as the Eagles had 19 points off turnovers while the Aggies had 16 (first 11 points of the game were off turnovers)
- The battle of the boards was won by N.C. A&T (36-32)
NOTABLES
- Eagles improved to 9-0 at home in the Big South Conference ESPNU Wild Card series and 12-4 all-time
- Burns Jr. led the Eagles with 15 and is now five points away from 1,000 career points
- This was the 12th straight home win and 10th straight regular season Big South home win
- McMahon was in double-figures for a second straight game as he finished with 13 and finished with a career-high six rebounds
- Buggs finished with a season-high eight assists
- Burns Jr. led the bench with 15 points as Jamal King added seven and Jones Jr. had six
UP NEXT
In less than 48 hours the Eagles are back in action as they travel to Hampton Va. to take on Hampton on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
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).
