Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop overcame an 11-point first half deficit as it captured a 69-57 victory at Hampton, Saturday evening in the Convocation Center.
WINTHROP (15-8, 8-2 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
HAMPTON (6-14, 2-7 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Russell Dean (12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals)
- DeAngelo Epps (10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Najee Garvin (9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)
FIRST HALF
- Hampton opened the game hitting its first two shots for a 5-0 lead as Dajour Dickens hit a base line jumper and DeAngelo Epps dropped in a three from the right wing
- D.J. Burns Jr. opened up the scoring for the Eagles he knocked down a jumper from the left side while being fouled and completed the three-point play to trail 5-3 at the 18:47 mark
- Trailing 6-3, Russell Jones Jr. knocked down a straight away three to tie the game at 6-6, but a left wing three from Russell Dean put Hampton back on top 9-6 with just over 17 left
- Both teams came out shooting well as the game was tied 11-11 after a Jamal King three
- Winthrop started 4-of-6 from the floor (2-of-4 from three) and Hampton started 4-of-5 and 2-of-3 from behind the arc)
- An 11-0 run by the Pirates highlighted by Russell Dean with two steals and finishing on the other end both times for a 22-11 lead that forced a timeout by Winthrop
- Eagles hard work on the glass helped end the run as Chase Claxton boarded a missed jumper from Burns Jr. that eventually led to a Burns Jr. baseline jumper
- That was the start of eight consecutive points by Burns Jr. to pull within 22-19 with 10:27 left
- The Eagles went scoreless for five minutes with the only points from either team coming at the 9:03 mark on a Najee Garvin three for a 25-19 lead for Hampton
- King drilled a corner three to end the drought and bring the Eagles back to within a possession
- The Pirates led 31-24 with 3:09 to play in the half after Raymond Bethea completed a three point play
- Winthrop scored the final six points of the half to trail 31-30 at the break
- Eagles shot 50 percent from the floor while Hampton shot 42 percent
- Burns Jr. had exactly 50 percent of Winthrop's first half points (15)
SECOND HALF
- Right out of the break, Sin'Cere McMahon hit a three for the first lead of the game by the Eagles
- That started an 8-0 run to start the second half as a three from Micheal Anumba capped the run for a 38-31 lead just over two minutes in
- Eagles pushed their lead to double-figures at 43-33 after a Kelton Talford put back with 14:18 left
- Hampton scored five straight to pull within five points and had it down to four points at 44-40 with 12:54 remaining after Dickens slammed off a feed from Russell Dean
- Leading 46-41, the Eagles went on 10-0 run to extend their lead to 56-41 with 9:19 left
- Winthrop 4:11 remaining, Claxton grabbed his own miss and proceeded to slam it home for a 16-point lead
- Eagles shot 50 percent in the second half as well and held the Pirates to 32 percent
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles shot 50 percent for the game as Hampton finished at 37 percent
- Eagles were only 9-for-21 at the foul line while Hampton was 12-of-21
- Winthrop dominated the paint 36-22 and was plus-10 on the glass 43-33
- Winthrop had 10 offensive rebounds and a 16-1 advantage in second chance points
- After trailing 22-11, the Eagles outscored the Pirates 27-9 over the next 15 minutes to change the momentum and lead 38-31 just over two minutes into the second half
NOTABLES
- Burns Jr. became the 7th Winthrop player to reach 1,000 career points in just three seasons
- Burns Jr. led the post players in scoring as he, Claxton and Talford combined for 43 of the team's 69 points
- Talford posted his third career double-double
- Winthrop has now won 22 of its last 25 road games in league play
- This was the 11th career game with 20 or more points for Burns Jr. and his 8th on the road
- Eagles moved into first place all alone after USC Upstate suffered a home loss to Campbell earlier in the day
- Winthrop has trailed at the half in the last two games, but in the two game combined have outscored opponents 78-49 in the second half (both wins)
UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home for a midweek matchup as it will host Radford on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 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).
