High Point, N.C. – Fourth-seeded Winthrop fell 69-56 as fifth-seeded Longwood used a late run to pull away, Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Hercules Tires Big South Conference Championship.
#4 WINTHROP (17-15)
#5 LONGWOOD (19-13)
- Walyn Napper (20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals)
- Emmanuel Richards (11 points, 5 rebounds)
- Jonathan Massie (10 points, 3 rebounds, steal)
FIRST HALF
- Elijah Tucker opened the scoring, knocking down a jumper from the right wing for an early Longwood lead
- Lancers led 4-0 as the Eagles didn't manager their first bucket until the 16:15 mark when Sin'Cere McMahon drilled a three from the right corner
- Eagles grabbed a 5-4 lead when McMahon drove down the middle of the lane and connected with Alex Timmerman for the easy two off the glass
- A three-point play by D'avian Houston put the Lancers back on top 7-5 at the 14:30 mark
- A stick back by Kelton Talford tied the game at 7-7 and then Micheal Anumba put the Eagles back in front 9-7 after converting two free throws
- With Longwood leading 14-13, K.J. Doucet drained a left wing three and then Talford poked away an entry pass as Nick Johnson picked up the loose ball and took it the length of the floor for the layup
- McMahon connected on another three with 6:04 left in the half for a 24-19 lead, only to be matched by Jonathan Massie with a right win three
- McMahon scored again as he drove the lane and in traffic finished off the glass to lead 26-22
- Two free throws from Szymon Zapala followed by a Walyn Napper second-chance follow tied the game again, this time at 26-26 with 3:43 left
- Winthrop led 33-30 with 43 seconds left, but Longwood made four free throws down the stretch to inch out a 34-33 lead at the break
- Winthrop shot 44 percent from field while holding Longwood to 36 percent but the Lancers were 12-of-13 at the foul line
SECOND HALF
- Eagles were on the board first in the second half as Anumba knocked down a three from the left wing to lead 36-34
- Johnson stole the ball and finished on the other end to give the Eagles a 40-38 lead at the 16:25 mark
- Emanuel Richards responded with the first of three straight triples by Longwood as he grabbed a 47-40 lead with 14:29 remaining, forcing a Winthrop timeout
- Out of the timeout, Doucet got the ball on the right wing and drove to the basket for the score to end the run
- Trailing 51-42, Kasen Harrison drove into the paint and found McMahon in the right corner who splashed his fourth triple of the game
- Talford scored inside with just under 12 remaining to pull the Eagles within four
- Longwood extended its lead to six points with 9:28 to play after Massie scored off the drive, but the Eagles answered with a three by Anumba on the left wing to cut the deficit in half
- Over the next three minutes both teams went on a scoring drought until Napper dropped a three from the left wing to lead 56-50 with 6:10 to play
- After Johnson went 1-of-2 at the line, Richards drained a corner three followed by a strong finish at the rim by Napper to put Longwood on top 61-51
- Lancer extended the lead to 63-51 with 3:23 to play after Napper scored off the drive
- McMahon's 5th three of the game came from the right corner with 3:06 left to cut the lead back to single digits and then McMahon scored off a fast break as he took a pass from Harrison and finished the layup to make it a seven-point game
- Lancers scored the final six points to close out the game
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field while holding Longwood to 40 percent
- Longwood was 16-of-18 at the foul line while the Eagles were 5-for-7
- Lancers edged the Eagles on the glass 35-30 and had 12 offensive boards to six for Winthrop
- Points in the paint favored Longwood 30-24 while the Lancers were 7-for-19 from three and the Eagles were 9-of-26
- McMahon led the Eagles with 19 points off the bench and connected on five threes
- The game saw a total of eight ties and six lead changes
NOTABLES
- The seven free throw attempts were a season-low for the Eagles (previous low was 11 at Charleston Southern on Jan. 24)
- Micheal Anumba finished just five points shy of 1,000 in his career as he posted 10 points in the game
- Talford had a game-high 10 rebounds, his second straight conference tournament game with double digit rebounds
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