Rock Hill, S.C. – Kelton Talford led four players in double-figures with 18 points to help lead Winthrop to a 78-70 victory over Elon in the final game of the Rock Hill Classic, Sunday afternoon at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center.
WINTHROP (4-2, 0-0 Big South)
ELON (3-3, 0-0 CAA)
- Rob Higgins (20 points, 6 rebounds)
- TK Simpkins (14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, steal)
- Nick Dorn (9 points, 4 rebounds, block)
FIRST HALF
- Elon opened the scoring as Nick Dorn hit a three from the right corner
- Phoenix made it 6-0 when Dorn hit a three from the left wing
- Eagles got on the board when Alex Timmerman backed down his defender and then found K.J. Doucet as the double team arrived and Doucet finished with the layup
- Eagles scored on their next possession after getting a stop as Kasen Harrison drove down the right side of the lane and finished off glass
- Elon came right back as Zac Ervin found Rob Higgins on the right wing as he released the ball quickly, knocking down a three only to follow that with another three on the ensuing possession for a 15-4 advantage
- Trailing by 11 with 13:21 to play in the half, Nick Johnson stole the ball as Harrison collected the ball and found Chase Claxton trailing for the dunk finish to spark a 7-0 spurt
- Following a defensive stand the Eagles moved the ball around the perimeter quickly to find Sin"Cere McMahon in the corner for a three
- Then a steal by Harrison led to a layup on the other end by McMahon to cut the deficit to four points
- Ervin responded with a three for Elon only to be matched by a corner three from Johnson
- The Johnson three sparked a 6-0 spurt as the Eagles tied the game at 20-20 with under 10 minutes remaining
- Elon led 24-20 when the Eagles reeled off five straight points ending with a Harrison finish for a 26-25 lead with 6:27 left
- Leading 29-27, the Eagles pushed the lead to five after a McMahon three from the wing in transition
- Phoenix made it a three point game with 3:10 left but the Eagles scored the final points of the half with a right wing three from Noah Van Bibber and a jumper from Johnson
- The Eagles trailed 15-4 and then outscored the Phoenix 35-16 the rest of the way for a 39-31 lead at halftime
SECOND HALF
- The Phoenix were on the board first in the second half as Higgins scored on a cut to the basket and a lay-in
- Elon battled its way back to tie the game at 43-43 with 16:34 remaining
- Leading 48-46, Harrison knocked down a straight away three with two on the shot clock and then McMahon made two free throws to push the lead to seven points with 13:36 left
- The Eagles pushed the lead back to nine points with 9:51 left when Kelton Talford scrapped for the ball on the ground, then passed it out to Van Bibber at the top of the key
- Van Bibber then drove down the left side of the lane and finished off glass for the And-1 and proceeded to complete the three-point play
- Elon continued to try and chip away at the deficit but the Eagles continued to hold them off and even pushed the lead to 10 points with 36 seconds to play
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop shot 43 percent from the floor in the game while Elon shot 39 percent
- Neither team shot well behind the arc as the Eagles were 5-for-20 (25%) and the Phoenix were 8-for-29 (28%)
- The teams combined for 49 fouls in the game and a total of 63 free throw attempts
- Winthrop finished the game 27-for-35 at the line (77%) and Elon was 22-of-28 (79%)
- The Eagles had just seven turnovers in the game while forcing 14 that led to 18 points
- Phoenix was the battle of the boards 35-32 and had 18 second chance points
- Talford led the Eagles with 18 points and was joined in double-figures by McMahon (15), Johnson (13) and Harrison (11)
- Elon was led by Higgins, who scored a game-high 20 points
NOTABLES
- Eagles won all three games at the Rock Hill Classic to finish with the best record among the field
- Talford's team-high 18 points puts him within 23 points of 1,000 in his career
- McMahon hit three triples in the game and now has 140 in his career
- Harrison's 11 points now has him 11 points shy of 900
- This is the first three-game win streak against non-conference opponents since the 2020-21 season
UP NEXT
Winthrop is off until the day after Thanksgiving when the Eagles travel to Athens, Ga. on Friday, Nov. 24 for a 5 p.m. tip-off against Georgia.
STAY CONNECTED
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