Blacksburg, Va. – Kasen Harrison scored a season-high 19 points to pace Winthrop men's basketball as it fell 58-52 in a hard fought contest at Virginia Tech Monday night.
WINTHROP (2-1, 0-0 Big South)
VIRGINIA TECH (3-0, 0-0 ACC)
- Jaden Schutt (17 points, 2 rebounds, assist)
- Tobi Lawal (10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals)
- Tyler Johnson (4 points, 10 rebounds, block, steal)
FIRST HALF
- Eagles opened the scoring as Tommy Kamarad boarded a miss and scored on the stick back
- The team's traded blows over the first four and a half minutes as the Eagles led 9-7 at the first media timeout (14:50)
- Ben Burngham's dunk put the Hokies up 7-6 before Kasen Harrison buried a three with 15:38 on the clock for a 9-7 advantage
- Out of the media timeout, the Eagles scored as Harrison scored off the glass for a four-point lead
- Eagles went on a scoring drought of just shy of seven minutes, but held strong defensively as it only allowed six points in that span to trail 13-11
- Paul Jones III ended the drought as he buried a three for a 14-13 lead with 7:45 to play in the half
- Hokies scored the next five points before K.J. Doucet knocked down a three with 4:39 left to make it a one point game
- Virginia Tech went back up by four points but the Eagles used an 8-0 run to regain as a Harrison bucket off the drive put the Eagles on top 25-21 with 46 seconds left
SECOND HALF
- Jaden Schutt opened the second half with a three as he got a friendly roll off the rim for a 26-25 lead
- Doucet put the Eagles back in front as he scored a tough basket at the rim
- Schutt buried another three with 16:38 on the clock to put the Hokies up four but a Talford dunk off a dish from Harrison made it a one possession game again
- It was a three point lead for the Hokies when Harrison scored off the drive at the end of the shot clock to make it a one point game with 11:45 remaining
- Hokies came right back and responded with five straight points for their largest lead at 40-34 with just under 11 minutes to go
- Eagles responded as Harrison got to the rack again as he scored and was fouled
- Harrison completed the three-point play to cut the deficit to three points with 10:16 left
- Harrison scored at the rim again to make it a one point game with 8:51 to play
- Talford tied the game at 42-42 as he hit the front end of a one-and-one and knocked down the second
- Lead was short lived as Patrick Wessler boarded a miss and knocked down a short jumper to put the Hokies back in front
- That second chance basket sparked an 8-0 run capped off by a three from Jaydon Young for a 50-42 lead with 4:59 left in the game
- Talford cut it back to a six point deficit with a basket inside
- Virginia Tech pushed the lead back to nine points with 2:13 to play but a quick basket by Harrison got back down to seven
- Nick Johnson hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:07 left to make it a six point deficit
- Following a missed one-and-one by Schutt with 1:05 left gave the Eagles a chance to make it a one possession game and did just that with a three from Doucet to trail 55-52 with 59 seconds left
- Eagles got the defensive stop they needed, but the Hokies boarded the miss and were forced to foul with 23.7 seconds remaining
- Brandon Rechsteiner converted both free throws to put the Hokies up 57-52
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Both teams struggled from the field as the Eagles shot 34 percent while Virginia Tech knocked down 33 percent
- Eagles won the turnover battle, finishing with 11 in the game and forcing 13 that led to 12 points off turnovers
- Hokes won the battle on the boards 43-32, including 16 offensive rebounds that led to a 15-8 advantage in second chance points
- Eagles outscored the Hokies 30-20 in the paint
- Kasen Harrison led the Eagles with a season-high 19 points while K.J. Doucet matched his season-high with 17 points
NOTABLES
- Harrison reached double-figures for the 72nd time in his career, while Doucet recorded his 22nd double-figure contest as an Eagle
- Harrison is now 10 assists away from 400 in his career
- Talford's three rebounds pulls him with three boards for 5th on the program's all-time list
UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home for the Rock Hill Classic that takes place Nov. 15-17 at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center in downtown Rock Hill, S.C. Eagles open up on Friday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. against William & Mary.
STAY CONNECTED
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop men's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@Winthrop_MBB), Instagram (@Winthrop_MBB) and Facebook (/WinthropEagles)
