Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop rallied from an 11-point deficit to open Big South Conference action with a 68-60 overtime victory over Longwood, Wednesday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (10-6, 1-0 Big South)
LONGWOOD (12-4, 0-1 Big South)
- Michael Christmas (16 points, 13 rebounds, steal)
- Walyn Napper (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
- Szymon Zapala (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Nick Johnson opened the scoring with a stick back off a missed jumper
- Kasen Harrison followed with a step back straight away three for an early 5-0 advantage
- The lead grew to six at 8-2 after Sin'Cere McMahon drilled a three from the corner
- Longwood tied the game at 8-8 as Szymon Zapala dropped in a right hook shot with 11:29 to play in the half
- On the next possession Nick Johnson scored off the drive for a 10-8 lead which ended a scoring drought of nearly five minutes for the Eagles
- Eagles led 18-14 at the 7:30 mark after Micheal Anumba knocked down a three
- Lancers used a 7-0 run to take the lead at 21-18 with 3:03 as Zapala capped off the run with a short jumper
- Eagles had nearly a six minute scoring drought that ended with two free throws from Kelton Talford at the 1:34 mark to cut the deficit to 21-20
- Lancers scored the final four points of the half to lead 25-20 at the break
- Eagles missed their final seven shots and finished 26 percent from the floor while Longwood shot 38 percent
- Winthrop had 12 first half turnovers that led to nine points for Longwood while the Eagles had two points off nine miscues by the Lancers
SECOND HALF
- Longwood pushed its lead to eight points at 29-21 at the 18:24 mark after back-to-back baskets from Michael Christmas and Zapala
- Eagles trimmed it to five points, but Longwood extended the lead to nine points after two free throws from D'avian Houston
- The teams traded baskets on four straight possessions until Longwood grabbed a double-digit lead at 39-28 with 14:11 to play
- Winthrop made it a two possession game at the 11:29 mark as K.J. Doucet boarded a miss, went the length of the court and scored for an And-1
- Doucet converted the free throw to pull the Eagles within 41-37
- A three-point play off an offensive rebound by Christmas turned the momentum back to Longwood as he scored five straight points to push the lead back to nine points
- Eagles chipped away at the deficit and after four straight points from Talford, made it a four point deficit with 6:27 remaining
- Nick Johnson made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point game with 4:39 left but Jonathan Massie's three-point play on the ensuing possession doubled the Longwood to six points
- Again the Eagles chipped away as Talford scored on a stick back followed by two free throws by Kasen Harrison to trail 51-49 with 2:27 remaining
- Following a Zapala basket inside, Doucet drove the lane and scooped one in off the glass while getting fouled with 1:46 left
- Doucet missed the free throw as the Eagles trailed 53-51
- Doucet had a chance to tie the game at the line and this time stepped up and drained both to tie the game at 55-55 with 36.2 seconds left
- Winthrop got a defensive stop and had the final possession of regulation with 6.2 seconds left
- Harrison drove down the court and dished to McMahon in the corner who's three just missed off the back iron
OVERTIME
- Houston went 1-of-2 at the foul line to give Longwood the first lead in overtime just over a minute into the period
- Eagles took a 57-56 lead at the 3:07 mark as Talford scored on a dunk follow
- The game was tied again (57-57) at the 2:41 mark when Christmas went 1-of-2 at the line
- Eagles regained the lead when Johnson drove baseline and scored
- Then on the defensive end Johnson came away with a steal with just over two minutes remaining
- After a miss the Eagles were awarded the ball as Massie was called for a travel on the rebound and Winthrop took advantage
- Off the inbound Talford split a double-team and found Johnson on the right wing as he buried a three to lead 62-57 with 1:33 left
- Eagles went 6-for-6 at the free throw line over the final minute to hold on for the eight point win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Longwood finished shooting 39 percent while the Eagles were 38 percent from the field
- The two teams combined for just 5-for-41 shooting behind the arc
- Winthrop was 24-for-39 at the free throw line (62%) while Longwood was 13-of-18 (72%)
- Battle on the glass was won by Winthrop 43-36 as the Eagles head 14 offensive boards that led to 15 points
- Longwood held a 44-32 advantage in the paint
- Talford, Johnson and Harrison led the Eagles with 15 points while Doucet joined them in double-figures with 10
NOTABLES
- Winthrop has now won seven straight home games and the sixth straight home win over Longwood
- Eagles have now won 10 of the last 11 league openers
- Kasen Harrison is now eight points away from 1,000 in his career
- Johnson tied his season-high with 15 points and now has three straight games in double-figures and had three steals to pull within four of 100 in his career
- This was the first overtime game since Feb. 22, 2023 vs. Campbell and the Eagles have now won eight straight when going to overtime
- Winthrop held Longwood to a season-low 60 points
UP NEXT
Winthrop hits the road for two games beginning on Saturday, Jan. 6 with a trip to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on USC Upstate at 4 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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