Asheville, N.C. – Sin'Cere McMahon scored a career-high 35 points and nearly helped Winthrop overcome a large second-half deficit in an 86-79 loss at UNC Asheville, Wednesday night inside Kimmel Arena.
WINTHROP (11-15, 6-7 Big South)
UNC ASHEVILLE (19-7, 11-2 Big South)
- Drew Pember (23 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks)
- Tajion Jones (15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 seal)
- Nick McMullen (12 points, 6 rebounds 1 block)
FIRST HALF
- Neither team scored until a Nick McMullen dunk at the 17:20 mark
- Both teams went scoreless over the next two and a half minutes until Abee Fletcher's layup put the Bulldogs up 4-0
- The Bulldogs opened the game on a 9-0 run, which ended when the Eagles scored their first points at the 13:01 mark on a Sin'Cere McMahon three
- The teams went scoreless for another two minutes as Alex Caldwell knocked down a jumper for an 11-3 lead
- Asheville pushed its lead to 16-3 with 8:51 left in the half
- After opening the game 1-for-12 from the field, Winthrop finished the half 6-for-13 and trailed 34-16 at the break
SECOND HALF
- Eagles hit their first three shots out of the gate, but Asheville continued to make shots and pushed its lead to 31 points with 13:29 to play in the game
- The Bulldogs opened the second half 9-of-13 from the floor and 3-for-3 behind the arc to build the big lead
- Trailing 60-31 with under 12 minutes to play, the Eagles went on a 21-0 run in just shy of six minutes to pull within eight points with 5:55 remaining
- The run started with three free throws and then a bucket by Talford followed by a steal from McMahon that led to a layup for Kasen Harrison
- Talford converted a three-point play and then came up with a steal and finished on the other end with a dunk to cut the deficit to 15 with 7:24 left
- A three-point play from Talford pulled the Eagles within 11 with 6:28 on the clock
- Another three-point by Talford made it a nine point game with 3:29 remaining
- With 1:25 left, McMahon knocked down two free throws and then after an Asheville turnover he drilled a three to trail 77-72
- Lane made it a four point game with 1:03 left after burying a three
- It was a four point game again with 44 seconds to play after a McMahon jumper, but Asheville made 5-of-6 free throws to hold off the Eagles
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After shooting 28 percent from the floor in the first half, the Eagles shot 62 percent in the second and finished at 46 percent for the game
- Asheville shot 54 percent in the second half and finished the game at 48 percent
- The two teams combined for 59 free throw attempts as the Eagles were 22-for-31 and Asheville was 22-for-28
- McMahon led all scorers with his first career 30-point game as he scored 35 on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and was 11-for-13 at the foul line
- The Bulldogs edged the Eagles on the glass 35-32 and had an 8-5 advantage in second chance points
- Winthrop was 7-of-22 behind the arc while the Bulldogs were 8-for-17
- Talford, who posted his 5th 20-point game of the season, scored 13 of them during the 21-0 run
NOTABLES
- McMahon's 35 points were the most in a game by an Eagle since Nych Smith had 35 on Jan. 26, 2019 at Presbyterian College
- McMahon connected on 11 free throws, his second game of the season with 10 or more in a game
- The 35 points were the 6th most by an Eagle in an away game and tied for the 4th most in a conference game on the road
- Talford recorded a double-double for the second straight game and the sixth time this season
- After 16 first half points the Eagles scored 63 in the second, a 47 point improvement
- The 63 second half points were a season-high and the most in a second half since Jan. 24, 2019 when the Eagles scored 62 points in the second half of a 97-88 home win over Gardner-Webb
UP NEXT
Winthrop is back home for its next contest as it will host USC Upstate on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m..
STAY CONNECTED
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