Cincinnati, Ohio. – Winthrop's winning streak came to an end as Xavier pulled away late in a 75-59 loss Saturday night.
WINTHROP (8-4, 0-0 Big South)
Xavier (6-5, 0-0 Big East)
- Quincy Olivari (22 points, 3 rebounds, steal)
- Desmond Claude (15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks)
- Dayvi McKnight (11 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, block, 3 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles won the tip and Kelton Talford scored on the first possession as he spun off a defender and finished with a dunk
- Musketeers reeled off five straight points that included a transition three from Quincy Olivari for a 5-2 advantage
- Eagles trail 9-6 when Kasen Harrison found K.J. Doucet in the corner and he buried the three to tie the game at the 16:41 mark
- The game was tied 11-11 when Xavier put together a 7-0 run as Olivari drilled another three in the middle of the run
- Sin'Cere McMahon stopped the run with a straight away three as the Eagles trailed 18-14
- But Xavier continued its hot shooting to open the game and reeled off seven straight points for a 25-14 lead, forcing a Winthrop timeout
- Over the first 7:46 of the game the Musketeers were 10-of-12 from the floor (3-for-3 behind the arc)
- Winthrop scoring drought as he scored off the drive at the 11:02 mark to pull within nine points
- A Troy Green triple put Xavier up 12 with 10:10 to go in the half, but a Yoro Diallo dunk and a three from Nick Johnson on back-to-back possession cut the deficit to seven
- Eagles followed that up with a scoring drought of three and a half minutes before Harrison found Chase Claxton on the baseline as he elevated for an emphatic dunk and an And-1 as he converted the free throw to trail 30-24 with 4:33 remaining
- After two free throws from Olivari, the Eagles responded with a Talford bucket inside to make it a two possession game again
- Xavier did push its lead back to nine points, but Johnson drained a three with 54 seconds left to make it a six point game at the half (38-32)
SECOND HALF
- Xavier scored the first five points of the second half as it pushed its lead back to double-digits just shy of two minutes in
- Talford ended the spurt by the Musketeers as he was fed cutting to the basket by Johnson and finished with a dunk
- After a defensive stop, Alex Timmerman fed McMahon on the left wing as he buried a three to cut the deficit back to six points at the 16:11 mark
- After forcing a timeout, the Eagles came right back and McMahon buried another three, this time from the right wing to make it a one possession game
- Johnson scored off the drive to make it a one point game with 13:28 to play in the game at 43-42
- Xavier answered with a 7-0 run capped off by a left wing three from Desmond Claude in transition
- Timmerman scored inside off a feed from McMahon to put an end to the run as the Eagles trailed 50-44 with just over 11 minutes remaining
- The Xavier lead was back to double-digits at 54-44 with 8:37 to play
- On the ensuing possession Timmerman whipped a pass to McMahon for another three, as Winthrop trailed 54-47
- Trailing by 11, the Eagles fed off a Talford block on the defensive end as Claxton scored inside off a feed from Talford to get the deficit back to single-digits
- Olivari hit a three for a 12-point advantage at the 4:45 mark only to be match by Johnson to trail 64-55 with a little over four minutes remaining
- Eagles couldn't get shots to fall from that point on as they missed five of their final seven shots
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles shot 36 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 38 percent for the game
- Xavier finished at 50 percent from the floor despite shooting 44 percent in the second half
- Musketeers won the battled on the boards 42-30 but the Eagles had the edge in second chance points 13-12
- The Eagles, who came into the game shooting 73 percent as a team at the foul line, finished the game 7-of-19 while Xavier was 12-of-15
- Xavier opened the game 11-for-13 from the field in the first eight minutes, but shot just 5-of-16 over the final 12 minutes
NOTABLES
- Eagles four-game winning streak comes to an end
- The 17 assists by the Eagles was the most against a D1 opponent this season
- This was the first game since the season opener the Eagles had fewer than 20 free throw attempts
- Winthrop had 19 free throw attempts to 15 for Xavier and has attempted more free throws than all 12 opponents this season
- Kasen Harrison had a season-high seven assists
UP NEXT
Winthrop is back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 19 when it heads down I-77 to Columbia, S.C. for a 7 p.m. tip-off with South Carolina.
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)
