Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball suffered a second straight defeat after a 79-74 loss at Gardner-Webb, Saturday afternoon.
WINTHROP (13-8, 4-2 Big South)
GARDNER-WEBB (8-12 3-2 Big South)
- D.Q. Nicholas (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, block, 5 steals)
- Julien Soumaoro (14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Caleb Robinson (11 points, 5 rebounds)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles scored on their first possession of the game as Kasen Harrison hit Chase Claxton who buried a three
- K.J. Doucet boarded his own miss, scored and was fouled as he converted the free throw to lead 6-2 in the early going
- Runnin' Bulldogs responded with an 11-1 run to lead 13-7 at the 13:55 mark as the Eagles were forced to call timeout
- Winthrop ended a its scoring drought of three minutes as Kasen Harrison dropped in two free throws
- The Harrison free throws sparked a 13-2 run capped off by a Sin'Cere McMahon three to force Gardner-Webb into a timeout
- After the free throws Kelton Talford scored on a second-chance layup and then off a turnover McMahon buried a three from the wing
- After a Gardner-Webb basket by Darryl Simmons II, the Eagles got back-to-back threes from Harrison and McMahon to lead 20-15 with 11:28 left
- Gardner-Webb pulled with 20-18 when Kelton Talford dropped in a three from the left wing and then found Alex Timmerman for an easy two at the rim to lead 25-18 near the midway point of the half
- Those two baskets were the start of a 12-0 run as Nick Johnson knocked down two free throws and Claxton drilled his second three of the game to lead 30-18 with 8:11 on the clock
- The run came to an end with two free throws from Johnson to extend the lead to 14 points
- D.Q. Nicholas end the run with a turn-around jumper, but then McMahon drilled back-to-back threes to push the lead 18 points with a little over six minutes left
- Eagles continued to thrive offensively and led 45-30 at the half
- Winthrop was 9-of-14 behind the arc and 12-of-13 at the foul line in the first 20 minutes
- Eagles opened the game 2-for-9 before finishing the half 10-for-17 to shoot 46 percent
SECOND HALF
- Gardner-Webb made a little run out of the half to pull within eight points after Lucas Stieber scored off the drive, but two free throws from Harrison had the Eagles back on top by double-digits
- Made nine of its first 12 shots and was within three points at the 11:57 mark after a three-point play from Ademide Badmus
- Eagles responded as Talford scored inside after an offensive rebound and was fouled as he converted the free throw for a three-point play
- Runnin' Bulldogs made it a one possession game at the 7:19 mark when Isaiah Richards took a lob pass inside and finished with a layup as Winthrop led 66-63
- The Richards basket near the beginning of a 9-0 run by Gardner-Webb to take the lead, which came at the 5:58 mark on a Caleb Robinson drive and score off a Winthrop turnover
- That bucket put Gardner-Webb up one and then Quest Aldridge made it a three point advantage at the 5:07 mark when he scored off a turnover, but missed the free throw to complete a three-point play
- Gardner-Webb pushed its lead to six points with 2:29 to play after a jumper from Robinson
- Eagles worked their way back to a one possession game at 1:40 after Johnson hit a free throw and then made it a two point game with 1:06 left after Talford hit 1-of-2 at the line
- Gardner-Webb led by three with 34 seconds left when the Eagles made it a one point game after K.J. Doucet scored on the drive with 22 seconds left
- With 19.7 seconds left the Eagles fouled but Gardner-Webb's Julien Soumaoro made both free throws to lead 77-74
- After Doucet couldn't get the tying three to fall, Soumaoro made two free throws with 1.3 left to give Gardner-Webb the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Gardner-Webb shot 56 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 49 percent for the game
- Eagles finished at 42 percent shoot from the floor and were 9-for-19 from three
- The two teams combined for 67 free throws as the Eagles were 29-for-38 and Gardner-Webb was 21-for-29
- Winthrop was edged on the glass 31-30, but had a slight edge in second chance points (13-12)
- Gardner-Webb finished with a 40-18 advantage on points in the paint while the Eagles had the edge in points off turnovers (15-11)
NOTABLES
- Kelton Talford posted his third straight game with 20 points or more as he posted a game-high 20
- Talford moved into 17th on Winthrop's all-time scoring list with 1,178 points
UP NEXT
Winthrop stays on the road as it heads to North Charleston, S.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 24 to take on Charleston Southern at 7 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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