Rock Hill, S.C. – Kelton Talford's double-double helped Winthrop earn a 77-75 victory over North Carolina Central in the final game of the Rock Hill Classic, Sunday afternoon.
WINTHROP (4-2, 0-0 Big South)
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL (1-5, 0-0 MEAC)
- Po'Boigh King (18 points, rebound, 3 steals)
- Dionte Johnson (15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists)
- Jaqai Murray (12 points, 6 rebounds)
FIRST HALF
- NCCU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead as Dionte Johnson hit a straight away three and then off a turnover Po'boigh King knocked down a short jumper in the lane
- Eagles answered with a 12-2 run which started with two free throws by K.J. Doucet followed by a tip-in by Kelton Talford
- Dionte Johnson scored for NCCU off the drive and then Winthrop scored eight straight points to lead 12-7 at the 15:51 mark as Doucet scored four of the eight
- A straight away three from King ended the run and ignited a 12-0 run for NCCU to lead 19-12 with 12:25 left in the half
- Paul Jones III halted the run with a three and then Kasen Harrison scored off the drive off a turnover to make it a two point game at 19-17 with 11:01 left
- Eagles came back to tie the game on the next possession as Talford tipped in his own miss
- The offense kept rolling as Jones III drained another three to regain the lead for Winthrop, 22-19
- Harrison found Logan Duncomb at the rim for an easy two for 12 straight points
- Floyd Rideau Jr. ended the run with a corner three to make it a 24-22 Winthrop lead
- That three sparked an 11-0 run by NCCU powered by three triples in a row to lead 30-24 with just under six minutes left
- Nick Johnson put an end to that run with a wing three and then two possessions later drained another three to pull Winthrop within a point with 4:19 remaining
- Talford went 1-of-2 at the foul line to tie the game at 33-33
- Winthrop got the ball right back off a turnover and Doucet took it hard to the rim and scored to regain the lead with 3:20 left
- NCCU scored the final buck of the half as Keishon Porter knocked down a three for a 40-39 lead at the break
SECOND HALF
- Winthrop opened the half getting a stop defensively and then Jones III hit a left win three while getting fouled
- Jones III completed the four-point play by knocking down the free throw to give Winthrop a 43-40 lead
- The game was tied 43-43 after another three by King
- From this point the game saw several lead changes over the next eight and a half minutes with no team leading by more than two points
- Trailing 59-57, NCCU went on a 7-0 run to take a 63-59 lead with 8:15 remaining in the game
- NCCU went up six with 5:10 to play but the Eagles came right back as Nick Johnson beat a double team off the dribble and went right to the rim to score
- After a defensive stop, Nick Johnson worked his way into the lane and scored on a soft one-handed shot to make it a one possession game with 3:46 to play
- Winthrop got another defensive stop and Harrison took advantage as it got to the hole and scored to tie the game at 71-71 at the 3:18 mark
- A third straight defensive stop led Talford scored inside with the left hand as Winthrop regained the lead with 2:17 remaining
- Talford pushed the lead to four points with just over a minute left by converting two free throws
- NCCU made it a two point game again when Keishon Porter drove to the basket and scored
- Eagles got the ball across halfcourt and called timeout
- Out of the timeout the Eagles ran the clock down and Johnson came through knocking down a jumper to lead by four with 26 seconds left
- NCCU did score with 0.7 seconds left but then the Eagles inbounded the ball long to run out the clock
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game at 48 percent from the floor while NCCU knocked down 45 percent (11-of-22 from three)
- Winthrop had 15 turnovers that led to 23 points while NCCU had 14 turnovers that led to 15 points for Winthrop
- Eagles dominated the glass 37-27 and had 13 offensive boards that led to 17 second-chance points
- Talford led five Eagles in double-figures with 22 points while Johnson had 17, Harrison finished with 13, Jones II had 11 and Doucet added 10
NOTABLES
- Winthrop finished the Rock Hill Classic with a 2-1 mark, tying Georgia Southern for the best record on the weekend
- Talford is within six points of 6th place on the all-time scoring list and is now all alone in 4th on the all-time rebound list (711)
- In the game there were a total of 19 lead changes and the score was tied on 12 occasions
UP NEXT
Winthrop hits the road for its next contest, traveling to Louisville, Ky on Friday, Nov. 22 to take on Louisville at 7 p.m.
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