Rock Hill, S.C. – Sin'Cere McMahon scored a game-high 19 points and nearly gave Winthrop the win at the buzzer, but his game-winning shot just hit off the back iron in a 63-61 loss to Gardner-Webb, Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (8-13, 3-5 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
GARDNER-WEBB (9-11, 4-4 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Ludovic Dufeal (12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals)
- D.Q. Nicholas (11 pionts, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
- Lucas Stieber (9 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Julien Soumaoro opened the scoring with a straight away three and was fouled but missed the free throw
- Kelton Talford boarded a miss and scored for the Eagles first bucket of the game to trail 3-2
- Eagles took a brief 4-3 lead on a Cory Hightower drive and score, but Soumaoro drilled another three for a 6-4 advantage
- That three sparked an 8-0 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs as Quest Aldridge capped the run with a triple
- The Eagles went six minutes without scoring to help Gardner-Webb build its lead and the drought ended on deep three from McMahon to trail 11-7 with 12:18 left
- Gardner-Webb extended its lead back to seven points with 10:09 left after Dufeal completed a three-point play for a 16-9 lead
- A quick 7-0 run by the Eagles started with free throws from Talford followed by a three from Kasen Harrison and a jumper in the lane by Hightower to tie the game at 16-16 at the 8:23 mark
- The Eagles tied the game two more times but couldn't grab the lead until a three from McMahon with 1:01 remaining put them on top 30-28
- McMahon then hit two free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining in the half to lead 32-31 at the break
SECOND HALF
- Gardner-Webb took the lead at 33-32 after D.Q. Nicholas converted two free throws, but Hightower score off a feed from Talford to regain the lead
- With the game tied at 38-38 with 14:08 to play, the Eagles took the lead on a McMahon jumper in the lane
- Eagles held the lead and even pushed it to a nine point advantage with 6:56 remaining on a tip-in from Talford
- The Runnin' Bulldogs started to chip away at the Winthrop lead with a 6-0 spurt to pull within 55-52
- Winthrop led 56-52 when Nicholas stole the ball at the top of the key and the scored on the other end
- After that play neither team scored for the next two minutes
- With 2:19 to play, Lucas Stieber dribbled on the right wing and then pulled up to bury a three for the lead at 57-56
- Hightower tied the game at 57-57 as he hit 1-of-2 free throws with two minutes left
- Stieber drove into the lane and hit a short jumper for a 59-57 lead with 1:11 to play
- McMahon made two free throws with 21 seconds left to make it a two point game and after Dufeal hit 1-of-2 free throws the Eagles had a chance for the win with 4.6 left on the clock
- The Eagles pushed the ball up the court as Harrison found McMahon on the right wing and he put up a contested three that just hit off the back iron and didn't fall in
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles shot just 30 percent in the second half and finished at 37 percent for the game
- Gardner-Webb shot 54 percent in the second half and finished at 44 percent for the game
- Both teams had five threes as the Runnin' Bulldogs were 5-of-12 and the Eagles were 5-for-17
- Winthrop committed 16 turnovers that led to 19 points for the Runnin' Bulldogs
- Eagles dominated the glass 41-29 and had 10 offensive boards that led to 15 second chance points
- Gardner-Webb finished with a 38-20 advantage in the paint
- Winthrop finished the game 24-for-30 at the foul line (80%) and Gardner-Webb was 10-of-23 (43%)
- Talford finished with nine points and had a career-high 16 rebounds
- McMahon scored a game-high 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and was 7-for-7 at the line
NOTABLES
- Talford's streak of scoring double-figures came to an end at 19 games, just missing by a single point
- Talford's 16 rebounds were the most by an Eagle since Xavier Cooks at 16 at Gardner-Webb on Feb. 15, 2018
- Hightower moved within a single point of 1,600 career points and is now 14 rebounds away from 800
- Eagles win streak against Gardner-Webb comes to an end at six straight overall and the home win streak ends at eight in a row
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains at home for its next contest as it looks to end a two-game skid against Charleston Southern on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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