Rock Hill, S.C. – K.J. Doucet and
Kelton Talford combined for 44 points to lead Winthrop to a 96-89 victory over Coastal Carolina, Saturday evening inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (8-3, 0-0 Big South)
COASTAL CAROLINA (4-5, 0-0 Sun Belt)
- Rasheed Jones (21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Jordan Battle (14 points, 4 rebounds, assist)
- Noah Amenhauser (13 points, 5 rebounds, assist, block, steal)
FIRST HALF
- A left corner three by K.J. Doucet off a steal by Kelton Talford gave the Eagles an early lead
- Coastal matched the three on the ensuing possession as Jordan Battle knocked down a three from the left wing
- After two free throws from Nick Johnson and two by Talford the Eagles led 7-3 at the 17:24 mark
- Coastal scored five straight to take its first lead of the game at 8-7 as Josh Meo drilled a three followed by free throws from Battle
- The game was tied 9-9 as Kasen Harison scored off the drive for an 11-9 lead
- The Chanticleers started to get hot behind the arc, connecting from downtown on three of the next four possession to grab a 20-16 advantage with 12:43 to play in the half
- It was a one possession game with just over nine minutes left when the Chanticleers outscored the Eagles 7-2 in a minute and a half span to build its largest lead
- Rasheed Jones knocked down a step back three to finish the run and put Coastal ahead 31-24
- Eagles chipped away at the deficit and scored six straight to regain the lead at the 4:29 mark after two free throws by Kelton
- It turned into an 8-0 run as the Eagles led 36-33 with 4:01 left after a drive and score by Doucet
- Winthrop grabbed its largest lead of the first half with just under a minute remaining as Johnson made the extra pass to Paul Jones III in the corner and he buried a three to lead 47-39
- With 1.2 seconds left in the half, Yoro Diallo hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Eagles a 48-39 lead at the half
SECOND HALF
- Eagles scored on the opening possession of the half as Harrison dropped in a three for a double-digit lead at 51-39
- Talford followed that with a layup off a Jones III feed and then off a Harrison steal the Eagles got to the line for two free throws as Talford was fouled trying to finish in transition
- Coastal called a timeout and following the timeout Talford dropped in both free throws for a 55-39 advantage 70 seconds into the half
- Winthrop scored the first eight points of the half before Battle drove down the right side of the lane and scored a runner off glass
- The Eagles lead was as big as 17 at the 18:30 mark but Coastal chipped away in an effort to get the deficit to single digits as it pulled with 10 at the 16:11 mark on a three-point play by Jones
- Winthrop responded with four straight points as Doucet connected on two free throws and then Jones III found Tai Hamilton under the basket for the easy two
- Chanticleers did get the Winthrop lead down to single-digits and pulled within six points after Henry Abraham drilled a three
- Harrison responded for the Eagles with a three-point play as the lead was back to nine with 13:44 to play
- Coastal made 9-of-10 field goal attempts from the 18:01 mark to the 12:26 mark to make it a four point game at 67-63
- Winthrop held off Coastal for at least a two possession lead until 6:47 remaining in the game as Jones converted a free throw to compete a three-point play
- Coastal made it a one point game on a hook shot in the paint by Colin Granger and then tied the game at 80-80 on a corner three by Battle with just under five minutes to play
- Coastal grabbed the lead a 82-81 with 4:02 left on a tip-in by Noah Amenhauser
- Johnson put Winthrop back on top as he sliced through lane and scored while getting fouled and converted the three-point play with 3:50 left for an 84-82 lead
- It was tied at 88-88 when Talford scored inside while drawing contact for the And-1
- Talford made the free throw to complete the three-point lead and put the Eagles up 90-87
- Coastal looked to scored on the next possession as Amenhauser boarded a miss under the basket and while he pump faked Doucet stripped the ball with 35 seconds remaining
- The Eagles ran the clock down to the final seconds and Harrison found Johnson on the right wing as he drained a three as the shot clock expired to lead 94-88 with 6.9 seconds remaining
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor as the Eagles finished at 55 percent and then
- Winthrop made six of its final eights shots of the first half including five straight to help build the nine point halftime advantage
- Eagles finished 31-for-40 (78%) at the foul line while Coastal Carolina was 21-of-29 (72%)
- Chanticleers had the edge on the boards, 31-28 and finished with a 14-10 advantage in second chance points
- Winthrop had 44 points in the paint to 34 points for Coastal
- Doucet and Talford combined for 29 of the team's 40 free throw attempts as they combined to go 21-for-29
- Winthrop committed just five turnovers in the game and forced 12 they were able to turn into 22 points
NOTABLES
- The win was the fourth straight for the Eagles and the second straight over Coastal Carolina
- It's the second straight game the Eagles posted 90 or more points against the Chanticleers, which
- Eagles have now won seven straight home games at the Winthrop Coliseum against non-conference opponents
- K.J. Doucet finished with three rebounds and moved past 500 in his career (501)
UP NEXT
The Eagles remain in Rock Hill, but will move their next home contest over to the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center near downtown to take on Bob Jones on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Winthrop Coliseum will be unavailable due to December graduation ceremonies.
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)
