Rock Hill, S.C. – Cory Hightower led three Eagles in double-figures with a game-high 19 points to lead Winthrop to a 76-64 victory over Charleston Southern, Wednesday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (9-13, 4-5 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (7-13, 3-6 Big South)
STAT LEADERS
- Tyeree Bryan (14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist)
- Kalib Clinton (12 points, 8 rebounds)
- Claudell Harris Jr. (15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)
FIRST HALF
- Both teams came out knocking down shots and didn't cool off much for the first 20 minutes
- Charleston Southern made seven of its first nine shots and the Eagles hit seven of their first 13
- Kasen Harrison opened the scoring as Cory Hightower found him cutting to the basket for a layup
- Game was tied 2-2 when Hightower hit a straight away three for a 5-2 advantage
- Over the next 3-4 minutes the game was tied three times and the third time at 13-13 after a three from Toneari Lane
- Winthrop led 16-15 after an Xavier McKelvy three but back-to-back triples from Claudell Harris Jr. and Tyeree Bryan had the Bucs back in front 21-16 with 11:40 left
- The Bucs lead grew to as big as 25-19, but the Eagles made a run to retake the lead
- The 8-0 run started with a Talford basket inside off an entry pass from Harrison and then McKelvy converted a three-point play
- The run was capped off by another three from Lane to put the Eagles on top 27-25 with just under eight minutes left
- The game was tied 33-33 with 2:53 to play in the half after Lane connected on his fourth three of the half
- Bryan put the Bucs back in front with a three on the next possession and the Bucs led by four points with 1:41 left, but the Eagles scored five straight to end the half
- It started with a corner three from Chase Claxton and Harrison's drive and score put Winthrop up 40-39 at the break
SECOND HALF
- With the scored tied 44-44, Lane found Harrison open for three that started a 10-0 run by the Eagles
- Talford hit two free throws followed by Hightower with a baseline jumper and capped off by a three from Lane off a pass from Hightower that forced a Charleston Southern timeout
- Winthrop's defense clamped down and held Charleston Southern without a field goal from the for nearly nine minutes after Tahlik Chavez buried a three at the 12:29 mark
- During that span the Eagles maintained its 8-10 point lead and even pushed it to 18 points with 4:30 remaining
- During the scoring drought the Eagles held the Buccaneer to 0-for-8
- Eagles held the Buccaneers to 35 percent shooting in the second half
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles finished the game shooting 50 percent while the Buccaneers finished at 49 percent
- Eagles forced 14 turnovers that led to 25 points while the Buccaneers turned eight Winthrop turnovers into seven points
- Eagles connected on 13 threes in the game and were 13-for-28
- Charleston Southern won the battle on the glass 31-26
- Winthrop had 13 of its 15 second chance points in the second half as it finished with 10 offensive boards
- Hightower led the Eagles with a game-high 19 points and also tied for a game-high six assists
- The bench scored 26 points led by 17 from Lane and nine points from McKelvy
NOTABLES
- Hightower surpassed 1,600 career points (1,618) and also reached 300 career assists (300)
- This was the eighth straight win over the Buccaneers
- Eagles connected on 13 threes in the game, the ninth game this season with 10 or more in a game
- The 13 threes by the Eagles matched a season-high
- Winthrop committed a season-low eight turnovers, the fewest since the 2021-22 season-opener against Mary Baldwin
- The 19 assists tied a season-high, which the team first accomplished in the win over Eastern Michigan
UP NEXT
Eagles are back on the road as they'll head to Clinton, S.C. on Saturday, Jan. 28 to take on Presbyterian College at 2 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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)
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