Rock Hill, S.C. – Kelton Talford's 18 points paced five players in double-figures as Winthrop earned an 82-80 overtime win at USC Upstate, Saturday afternoon inside the G.B. Hodge Center.
WINTHROP (11-6, 2-0 Big South)
USC UPSTATE (5-10, 0-2 Big South)
- Nick Alves (16 points, 3 rebounds, assist)
- Ahmir Langlais (14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, steal)
- Trae Broadnax (13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, block, 3 steals)
FIRST HALF
- K.J. Doucet scored the first points of the game when he knocked down a step back three as the shot clock expired
- Upstate followed that with triples from Jalen Breazeale, Justin Bailey and Nick Alves
- Trailing 9-5, the Eagles gave up two baskets in transition forcing a timeout by the Eagles
- Nick Johnson came out of the timeout and attacked the basket, drawing the foul as he dropped in a short jumper as he converted the free throw to cut the deficit to 13-8
- Spartans answered as Bailey drilled a three while getting fouled and converted the four point play to lead 17-8 with 14:18 left in the half
- Winthrop responded with 10 straight points to take an 18-17 lead with 10:42 remaining
- The 10 consecutive points turned into a 13-0 run as the Eagles held Upstate scoreless for six minutes and 44 seconds
- Alves ended the drought for the Spartans as he drove to the basket and scored, which was followed by a basket from Ahmir Langlais on a second chance opportunity to tie the game at 21-21 with 6:34 on the clock
- A bucket inside from Chase Claxton followed by a three from Doucet started a 7-0 run to give Winthrop a 28-21 lead with just over four minutes left
- A three from Miguel Ayesa with 1:58 left cut the Winthrop lead to 29-27, but the Eagles finished off the half with a 7-2 run for the lead at the half
SECOND HALF
- Upstate opened the scoring in the second half as Trae Broadnax drained a three
- Talford scored the first seven points of the half for the Eagles, which included a three-point play at the end for a 43-38 lead
- Midway through the second half, Sin'Cere McMahon drained a three to put the Eagles up double-digits at 59-49
- Upstate fought its way back to a one possession game at 60-58 with 7:52 to play, only to have McMahon drill another three, this time from the corner
- Leading 65-63, Micheal Anumba drove down the middle of the lane and finished with the left hand
- Anumba came away with a steal on the other end that led to Doucet knocking down a floater for a 69-63 lead with 4:30 to play
- Leading 71-68 with the ball, the Eagles turned the ball over as Upstate had a chance to tie the game with under 30 seconds to play
- The Spartans came out of a timeout as Bailey dribbled and found Ayesa in the corner and he tied the game with a three with 21.3 seconds remaining, which sent the game to overtime
OVERTIME
- Upstate grabbed the first lead in overtime on a layup by Ahmir Langlais
- Johnson went 1-of-2 at the foul line to pull the Eagles within a point and then following a turnover Harrison found Anumba on the wing for three and the lead at 75-73
- Alves scored off the drive to tie the game at 75, but the Eagles regained the lead on two free throws from Anumba
- The game was tied 77-77 when Harrison stepped up and hit two free throws as the Eagles grabbed the lead for good
- Eagles led 82-80 after Johnson went 1-of-2 at the line with 22.7 seconds to play
- Upstate had a couple of contested threes in the end, but were off the mark
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 51 percent from the floor while the Spartans shot 47 percent
- Upstate outrebounded the Eagles 36-32 and had 14 offensive rebounds that led to 12 second chance points
- Behind the arc the Spartans finished 11-of-33 while the Eagles were 7-for-21
- The teams combined for 72 points in the paint as Upstate had a slight edge 38-34
- The Eagles took advantage of 15 turnovers, turning them into 26 points
- Winthrop finished 25-for-37 at the free throw line while Upstate was 9-for-20
- In the game there were four lead changes and the game was tied six times
- Both teams held leads of at least nine points
- Both teams also had five players score double-figures
- Talford led the Eagles with 18 and just missed a double-double with a team-high nine boards
- Nick Alves led Upstate with 16 points
NOTABLES
- This was the first time the Eagles had back-to-back overtime games since the 2013-14 season (Feb. 22, 2014 at Gardner-Webb/Feb. 26 vs. UNC Asheville)
- Kasen Harrison reached 1,000 career points with a score on a drive in the second half
- Winthrop has now won eight straight overtime games
- Eagles have now won 29 of their last 37 games on the road in conference play
- For the 15th time this season, the Eagles attempted more free throws than their opponent and it was the second straight game attempting at least 37 in a game
- This was the 650th win for the Eagles at the NCAA D1 level
- With his nine rebounds, Talford moved into 14th on the program's all-time rebounding list (568)
UP NEXT
Eagles remain on the road as they head to Clinton, S.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 10 to take on Presbyterian College at 7 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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