Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball dropped a hard fought contest in an 82-78 loss at UNC Asheville, Saturday afternoon.
WINTHROP (14-10, 5-4 Big South)
UNC ASHEVILLE (15-9 7-2 Big South)
- Drew Pember (36 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks)
- Fletcher Abee (11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Nick McMullen (11 points, 6 rebounds, block)
FIRST HALF
- Both teams were unable to score over the first two minutes until Micheal Anumba scored off a drive
- Asheville responded with four consecutive threes to lead 12-2 at the 15:45 mark
- Sin'Cere McMahon ended the run with an And-1 corner three as he converted the free to cut the deficit to six
- Another three from McMahon made it a one possession game with Asheville ahead 12-9
- Five straight points by Drew Pember had Asheville up by up eight with 12:35 left in the half
- An And-1 by Kelton Talford at the 11:22 mark made it a one possession game again and converted the free throw to trail by three
- At that point Asheville outscored the Eagles 19-8 over the next 4:27 to build a 14 point advantage
- Eagles cut the deficit to 10 points on a Nick Johnson three from the right wing in transition only to have Pember respond with a right win three
- Kasen Harrison answered with a three to get the deficit back to 10 at 39-29 with just under five left in the half
- The Harrison three sparked an 10-0 run that had the Eagles within three points with 1:19 to go
SECOND HALF
- Talford scored quickly out of the half as Anumba hit him with a pass that led to a layup
- Nick McMullen answered with a bucket inside only to have K.J. Doucet drill a three to cut the deficit to three points
- After a turnover by the Bulldogs, Talford got to the free throw line and converted both free throws to make it a one-point game
- The three pointer by Doucet ignited a 15-2 run by the Eagles that put them in front 53-46 with 13:50 remaining
- Eagles took a 47-46 lead on a three-point play from Nick Johnson and extended the lead to seven points after back-to-back layups by Harrison
- Talford put the Eagles on top by nine with 10:49 to play as he converted a free throw to complete a three-point play
- Talford scored at the rim with 2:05 to play to give the Eagles a 73-71 lead
- Pember knocked down two free throws with 1:55 left to tie the game at 73-73
- Asheville took a 75-73 lead with 1:17 left as Caleb Burgess made two free throws
- Doucet couldn't get a three to fall on the next possession and the Bulldogs came down and grabbed a five point advantage after Pember knocked down another three
- Doucet drilled a three with 21 seconds left to make it a two point game
- Pember made two free throws with 18.6 left to give Asheville a four point lead
- Nick Johnson's corner three didn't fall and Asheville boarded the miss and ran out the clock
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles finished the game shooting 44 percent while Asheville shot 47 percent
- Asheville was 17-of-21 at the free throw line while the Eagles were 16-for-19
- Bulldogs won the battle on the glass 36-30
- Between the two teams only 21 total points came from the bench as the Eagles had 13 and Asheville had eight
- Eagles had a 36-22 advantage in points in the paint and 15-13 in points off turnovers
- Eagles trailed by 13 points with 4:56 to play in the first half, outscored the Bulldogs 10-3 to trail by six at the break and then opened the 2nd half on a 24-9 run over the first nine minutes and 10 seconds to grab a nine point advantage (60-51)
- From the 4:56 mark of the first half until the 10:50 mark of the second half Winthrop outscored Asheville 34-12
NOTABLES
- Micheal Anumba pulled down three rebounds in the game and reached 500 for his career
- Six of the last eight meetings between Asheville and Winthrop have been decided by five or fewer points
UP NEXT
Eagles return home on Wednesday, Feb. 7 as they host Charleston Southern at 6:30 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
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