Tallahassee, Fla. – Winthrop men's basketball dropped a hard fought contest, 67-61 at Florida State Friday night.
WINTHROP (8-6, 0-0 Big South)
FLORIDA STATE (6-5, 0-0 ACC)
- Primo Spears (12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals)
- Jalen Warley (12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)
- Jamir Watkins (11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 3 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as Kelton Talford scored inside and then Nick Johnson knocked down a jump shot
- After the Eagles led 6-2 on a drive and score by Xavier McKelvy at the 16:04 mark, both teams combined for just six points for nearly four minutes
- Alex Timmerman broke the scoring drought with a shot off the glass in the paint
- After a miss by FSU on the other end, K.J. Doucet took a pass from Chase Claxton and as he dribbled up the floor he pulled up for three from the right wing and buried it to lead 11-6
- Eagles led 11-8 when Sin'Cere McMahon knocked down a three for the team's largest lead to that point
- The Seminoles battled their way back to tie the game at 18-18 with 4:14 left in the half and then on their ensuing possession grabbed the lead as De'ante Green scored off the drive
- Johnson converted two free throws with 3:49 left to tie the game at 20-20
- FSU answered right back out of a timeout as Primo Spears drilled a three to retake the lead
- Two free throws by Kasen Harrison with 1:06 left in the half, made it a one point deficit at the break (25-24)
- Eagles shot just 32 percent from the floor while holding FSU to 25 percent
- The Seminoles got a chunk of their offense at the free throw line (10-of-13)
SECOND HALF
- Talford put Winthrop back in the lead early in the second half as he scored inside for a 26-25 lead
- The teams continued to trade off the lead over the next three minutes until FSU took a 35-30 lead after a Darin Green Jr. three
- Winthrop came right back with five straight as Johnson made two free throws and Yoro Diallo drained a corner three
- Winthrop led 42-40 midway through the second half when Spears tied the game with two free throws and then forced a Winthrop turnover as FSU finished on the other end with a dunk by Jamir Watkins to regain the lead
- The Eagles came right back, forcing a turnover as Harrison pushed the ball ahead to Johnson, who finished the fast break with a layup and a 45-44 lead
- Eagles trailed 46-45 with 8:20 remaining as Diallo found Doucet on the right wing and he buried the three for a two-point advantage
- FSU responded with a 6-0 run that started with a jumper in the lane by Watkins and then free throws from Green and Spears to lead 52-48
- The lead for the Seminoles grew to five at 55-50 with 4:33 left after Jalen Warley made 3-of-4 free throws combined on back-to-back possessions
- Trailing by five, the Eagles committed a turnover that led to a three from Green Jr. to put FSU up by eight points with 3:20 remaining
- Talford went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 1:45 to play to make it a one possession game
- On the following possession Warley drove and spun in the lane to score and push it back to a five point lead
- The Eagles turned the ball over on the next possession which led to a dunk on the other end as FSU led 62-55
- Down by eight, Johnson drained a three with 29 seconds left
- Winthrop cut it to a three-point game with 17 seconds to play as Harrison knocked down a straight away three but the Seminoles held on for the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Both teams struggled from the field as the Eagles shot 33 percent and FSU finished at 31 percent
- There were a total of 52 fouls whistled in the game and they combined for 69 free throw attempts
- FSU finished the game 30-for-42 at the line and the Eagles were 20-for-27
- Winthrop won the rebound battle with a 43-36 advantage but gave up 12 offensive boards that led to 14 FSU points
- Eagles committed a season-high 24 turnovers in the game that led to 21 points for the Seminoles
- Nick Johnson led the Eagles with 15 points and Kelton Talford joined him in double-figures with 14
- Alex Timmerman led the Eagles with nine boards while Talford finished with eigh
NOTABLES
- There were a total of 13 lead changes and the game was tied 12 times (12 lead changes in the second half)
- FSU had 42 free throw attempts to 27 for the Eagles, which is the first opponent to attempt more free throws than the Eagles this season
- Chase Claxton finished with six rebounds to reach 500 in his career
- Talford now has 453 career rebounds as he is now all alone at 15th on the all-time list
- This was the 100th career game played for Talford and Timmerman
UP NEXT
Winthrop is off until Friday, Dec. 29 when it hosts Toccoa Falls at 4 p.m. in its final regular season non-conference contest.
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