Farmville, Va. – Winthrop men's basketball tried to rally from a double-digit deficit and pulled within five points with 1:28 to play but Longwood held on for an 84-74 victory.
WINTHROP (15-11, 6-5 Big South)
LONGWOOD (15-11 3-8 Big South)
- Jonathan Massie (31 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
- Michael Christmas (25 points, 9 rebounds)
- Elijah Tucker (6 points, 6 rebounds, steal)
FIRST HALF
- Nick Johnson opened the scoring as he scored at the rim off a dime from Kasen Harrison
- The Eagles led 4-3 after two free throws by K.J. Doucet, but Longwood put together a 10-0 run to lead 13-4 at the 13:52 mark
- The lead was pushed to 13 points at the 11:12 mark after a jumper from Jonathan Massie
- Winthrop made it a single-digit deficit four times over the next six minutes, but couldn't get closer
- Massie drained a three as time expired to end the half, giving Longwood a 42-28 lead at the break
- Eagles shot just 35 percent from the floor while the Lancers shot 58 percent
SECOND HALF
- Longwood pushed its lead to 18 points out of the gate, but five straight points from Kelton Talford made it a 13-point game with 16:40 to play
- Longwood extended its lead to as much as 19 on a couple of occasions with the last at the 8:53 mark
- With 5:01 remaining the Lancers led by 15 points when Micheal Anumba drilled a three, followed by to free throws from Talford to make it a 10 point game
- A jumper by Harrison cut the deficit to single-digits at eight points with 2:52 left
- Lancers pushed the lead back to 12, only to have the Eagles reel off seven straight points to make it a five point game with 1:28 left after a Harrison jumper in the lane
- That was as close as the Eagles got as Longwood made its final four free throws to seal the game
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After shooting 35 percent from the floor in the first half, Winthrop made 58 percent in the second half to finish at 48 percent in the game
- Longwood shot 51 percent from the floor, including 10-of-21 from three
- The Eagles shot 42 free throws and finished 27-for-42 while Longwood was 20-of-28 at the line
- Longwood won the rebound battle 33-27 and had 12 offensive boards that led to 11 second chance points
- After 11 first half turnovers, the Eagles finished with 15 and forced 15 miscues by the Lancers
- Longwood had a 20-18 edge in points off turnovers
- Massie and Christmas combined for 56 of Longwood's 84 points and were a combined 16-for-24 from the field
NOTABLES
- Alex Timmerman grabbed three rebounds in the game and reached 500 for his career
- Nick Johnson posted eight points and is now just two points away from 1,000 in his career
- Harrison posted his first 20-point game of the season and 7th of his career
- Talford was 12-for-16 at the free throw line, his 5th game of the season with 10 or more free throw attempts and 4th making 10 or more
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains on the road as it heads to Radford, Va. on Thursday, Feb. 15 to take on Radford at 8 p.m. in the Big South Conference ESPNU Wild Card Matchup.
STAY CONNECTED
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