Radford, Va. – K.J. Doucet scored a game-high 25 points to lead Winthrop to an 85-69 road victory at Radford, Thursday evening in the Demon Center in the Big South Conference ESPNU Wild Card matchup.
WINTHROP (16-11, 7-5 Big South)
RADFORD (13-13 3-8 Big South)
- DaQuan Smith (23 points, 2 rebounds, assist, steal)
- Kenyon Giles (15 points, 2 rebounds, assist)
- Bryan Antoine (14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists)
FIRST HALF
- Radford opened the scoring but the Eagles responded with five points as Nick Johnson scored at the rim and K.J. Doucet drained a corner three
- The Highlanders followed with five straight of their own and a three-point play by Kenyon Giles put them on top 7-5 at the 17:09 mark
- After the Highlanders went on top 8-5, a Micheal Anumba three from the corner to tie the game with 16:12 left
- The game was tied 10-10 with 14:23 left when both teams started to heat up from the field
- Over the next six and a half minutes the Eagles were 6-for-10 shooting and Radford 5-for-9 as the Highlanders led 22-21 with 7:58 to remaining in the half
- With 1:33 to play in the half, Kelton Talford scored inside while getting fouled and converted the free throw to tie the game at 30-30
- Eagles got the chance for the final possession of the half as Kasen Harrison ripped a pass to Talford down the middle of the lane and he scored while being fouled
- Talford missed the free throw but the basket did give the Eagles a 34-32 lead at the break
- There were nine lead changes and five ties in the first 20 minutes
SECOND HALF
- Eagles opened the second half with an 8-2 run as a drive and dunk by Doucet started the half as Alex Timmerman scored inside and then Doucet had two more buckets at the rim to lead 42-34 at the 17:18 mark
- After four straight points by the Highlanders, the Eagles came out of a timeout and Doucet buried a straight away three to lead 45-38
- On the play, Radford was whistled for an off the ball foul which gave the Eagles the ball and they took advantage as Talford scored inside for a nine point lead
- With 13:43 to play, Doucet dribbled to the free throw and with a spin move he split two defenders and scored on a layup for a double-digit lead (49-38) that forced a Radford timeout
- Leading 55-42 after Radford's Chandler Turner missed two free throws, Talford found Sin'Cere McMahon up top for a straight away three and a 58-42 lead with 9:51 to play
- After a missed jumper, Talford boarded the miss and found Harrison open on the left wing as he buried the three for a 16 point lead with 8:31 remaining
- With 5:49 Harrison drove down the right side of the lane and scored while getting fouled
- He completed the three-point play as the Eagles led 70-53
- Radford made a run to pull within 10 points at 77-67, but Harrison responded with a three and Doucet scored inside to push it back to 15 with 1:33 remaining
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles shot 55 percent in the second half and finished at 50 percent for the game overall
- Radford connected on 52 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game
- Winthrop dominated the paint 42-28 and finished 8-for-27 from three, 19-of-22 at the foul line
- Radford as 7-for-21 from three and 14-for-17 at the foul line
- Eagles outrebounded the Highlanders 33-28 and had an 11-6 edge in second chance points
NOTABLES
- The Eagles are now 14-4 all-time in Big South ESPNU Wild Card matchups (4-4 on the road)
- Nick Johnson finished with 10 points in the game and reached 1,000 career points
- Doucet's 25 points led all scorers and it was his 5th 20-point game of the season
UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 21 as it hosts Presbyterian College at 6:30 p.m.
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