Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop's winning streak came to an end as it fell 82-77 to UNC Asheville, Thursday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
WINTHROP (13-7, 4-1 Big South)

• Kelton Talford (21 points, 10 rebounds, assist, block, steal)
• Nick Johnson (20 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, block, steal)
• K.J. Doucet (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals)

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UNC ASHEVILLE (12-8 4-1 Big South)

• Drew Pember (29 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, steal)
• Josh Banks (14 points, 3 rebounds, assist, steal)
• Caleb Burgess (12 points, rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals)

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FIRST HALF

• Kelton Talford opened the scoring as he got the roll on a left-handed hook
• After Drew Pember responded with a layup, the Eagles hit back-to-back threes from K.J. Doucet in the corner and Nick Johnson from the other corner to lead 8-2
• Asheville came back to take a 13-12 lead on two Pember free throws
• Johnson and the Eagles had a quick response as he buried a corner three to lead 15-13 with 13:55 left
• Johnson hit another three to lead 18-13, before Asheville matched it with a Fletcher Abee triple
• Johnson then came up with a block on the defensive end, received an outlet pass and finished on the other end with an And-1 as he converted the free throw for a 21-16 advantage
• Caleb Burgess knocked down a three to make it a 29-27 lead for the Eagles at the 7:27 mark
• Winthrop proceeded to go on an 8-0 run highlighted by threes from Micheal Anumba and Doucet to lead 37-27 and forcing an Asheville timeout
• Eagles shot 64 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and led 43-36 at the break

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SECOND HALF

• Asheville chipped away at the Winthrop lead and made it a two point game at the 16:35 mark on a three-point play from Josh Banks
• The Bulldogs tied the game at 49-49 at the 13:56 mark after an Abee jumper and then took the lead at the 13:21 mark on a three from Abee
• The lead even extended to three points at 54-51, but the Eagles fought back to regain the lead
• It started with Kasen Harrison following his own miss inside and then Johnson converted two free throws to lead 55-54
• Asheville took the lead back on an alley-oop from Toyaz Soloman only to have Talford get it back for Winthrop at 57-56 on a short jumper in the paint
• Eagles pushed their lead to five points after two free throws from Sin'Cere McMahon, but Asheville worked it back to a one point game after a Trent Stephney triple and took the lead on a drive and score from Banks
• The game was tied 67-67 when Talford worked inside and scored while getting fouled with 4:57 remaining
• Talford missed the free throw, but the Eagles led 69-67
• With the game tied with 2:54 left, Burgess missed two free throws but Pember boarded the miss and found Banks open on the wing for three and a 73-70 advantage
• After a Pember block on Talford on the defensive end, Burgess dropped in a one-handed turn around shot at the free throw line and was fouled
• Burgess missed the free throw but the Bulldogs led 75-70 with 2:08 to play
• On the ensuing possession, Johnson found Chase Claxton open on the wing and he splashed a three to cut it to a two point game at 75-73 with just under two minutes left
• Eagles were unable to get any shots to fall as Pember hit a big turn-around jumper contested by Claxton and then converted two free throws for a 79-73 lead with 24.7 seconds to play

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INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Winthrop shot just 31 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game at 47 percent
• UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 53 percent and was 10-of-23 behind the arc
• Eagles also knocked down 10 triples (10-for-22)
• The two teams combined for 56 free throws as Asheville finished 20-for-29 and the Eagles were 19-for-27
• Asheville edged the Eagles on the boards 30-29 and each team finished with six offensive boards
• Both teams had 15 turnovers and each team finished with 15 points off turnovers

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NOTABLES

• Kelton Talford posted his second consecutive game with 20 or more points
• Talford also posted his first double-double of the season and 12^th of his career
• He moved into a tie for 18^th on the all-time scoring list with 1,158 points and 12^th on the all-time rebounding list
• Johnson also posted his second straight game with 20 or more points
• Johnson finished with two rebounds to reach 400 in his career
• The game saw nine lead changes and seven ties

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UP NEXT
Winthrop is back on the road for its next two contests beginning with a trip to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20. 

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