Rock Hill, S.C. – Nick Johnson scored a career-high 28 points to lead Winthrop to a 102-97 victory in triple overtime over Charleston Southern, Wednesday evening in Big South Conference men's basketball action.
WINTHROP (13-7, 3-2 Big South)
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (5-14, 1-3 Big South)
- R.J. Johnson (30 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Daylen Berry (23 points, 7 rebounds, assist, 3 steals)
- Taje' Kelly (22 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, steal)
FIRST HALF
- R.J. Johnson opened the scoring in the game as he dropped in a three
- Kelton Talford followed with a layup on the other end before Taje' Kelly scored inside on a dunk for a 5-2 advantage
- Bucs led 9-6 after a tough basket by R.J. Johnson but K.J Doucet answered with a catch-and-shoot three from the left wing to tie the game at the 15:56 mark
- Eagles grabbed their first lead of the game as a steal by Bryce Baker led to a layup on the other end by Nick Johnson to lead 11-9
- The game was tied 11-11 following a contested running jumper across the lane by Daylen Berry
- CSU had the lead at 18-15 at the 10:58 mark when Paul Jones III tied it with a left wing three off a pass out of a double team from Talford
- It was tied 25-25 with 6:29 left in the half when the Bucs used a 5-0 spurt over the next two minutes for a two-possession lead
- Eagles worked their way back to tie the game at 32-32 with 2:20 left in the half as Doucet drove, spun and finished at the rim while getting fouled and completed the three-point play
- Logan Duncomb scored off glass at the 1:44 mark to tie the game at 34-34 to start a 6-0 run to end the half for a 38-34 lead at the break
SECOND HALF
- Kasen Harrison made 1-of-2 free throws on Winthrop's first possession of the half to lead by five, its largest lead
- Lamar Oden Jr. boarded a miss and then dropped in a hook shot while getting fouled and hit the free throw to make it a two-point game
- Bucs regained the lead at the 15:40 mark as Berry drained a three and then Anthony Gause scored on a reverse layup to lead 46-43
- Doucet responded as he took a pass from Isaiah Wilson off an inbound under the basket and scored the And-1 as he completed the three-point play to tie the game at 46-46
- Game was tied again at the 10:18 mark after Wilson boarded a miss and took it coast-to-coast for a contest finish off glass
- The game remained a one possession game as the game went back-and-forth over the final 10 minutes
- Kelly went to the line with 46.1 seconds to play and hit two free throws for a three point lead at 71-68
- On the ensuing possession there was a mix up on a handoff at the top of the key by Harrison to Baker
- Baker collected the loose ball, turned and fired a straight away three that dropped in the bottom of the net to tie the game with 34.1 seconds remaining
- Each team had a look to win the game in the final seconds as Johnson couldn't get a baseline jumper to fall and Jones III boarded the miss and dribbled up court as he pulled up just inside the three-point line and his jumper at the buzzer rolled off the rim and out
OVERTIME
- Eagles scored first in overtime as Harrison went 1-of-2 at the line and then back-to-back buckets put Charleston Southern on top 75-72
- On the next possession the Eagles used quick ball movement to open up Baker on the right wing and he buried another three to tie the game with 3:49 left
- After the Bucs took a 76-75 lead on a R.J. Johnson free throw, Jones III dropped in a right wing three to lead 78-76 with 2:56 left
- With the game tied at 78-78, Nick Johnson stepped to the line with 37.5 seconds left and hit two free throws for the lead
- R.J. Johnson hit 1-of-2 free throws with 30.5 seconds left to make it a one point game
- After Wilson hit 1-of-2 free throws with 27.5 seconds left, R.J. Johnson tied the game as he drove down the right side of the lane and scored off glass with 6.3 remaining
DOUBLE OVERTIME
- R.J. Johnson started things off in the period with a triple for an 84-81 lead
- Logan Dumcomb made it a one point game after converting two free throws at the 3:14 mark
- Eagles grabbed their first lead of the second overtime on a drive by Johnson but R.J. quickly answered with a short jumper off glass with 2:21 to play
- An Eagle turnover led to a layup on the other end by Berry, but Harrison quickly answered that with a layup of his own to pull the Eagles within a point at 88-87
- With 29.2 seconds remaining, Nick Johnson went to the free throw line but missed both and the Bucs scored on the other end on a drive by R.J. Johnson
- Nick Johnson got a second chance and delivered as he buried a left wing three with 1.4 seconds remaining to force a third overtime
TRIPLE OVERTIME
- Eagles won the tip and Nick Johnson earned free throws as he was fouled driving to the basket
- Nick Johnson stood in and knocked down both for a 92-90 advantage
- Nick Johnson put the Eagles up by three as he drove to the basket, made a couple of spins and then finished off glass after getting his defender off his feet
- After R.J. Johnson made it a one point game with free throws, Nick Johnson again took the ball to the rim and scored to lead 96-93 with 3:41 left
- It was a one point lead for the Eagles as the Bucs had a chance to take the lead, but Duncomb came up with a block on R.J. Johnson's shot at the rim with a little over two minutes remaining
- Eagles took advantage and regained a three point lead as Nick Johnson once again got to the basketball and scored inside
- After a missed three from Berry, the Eagles ran the clock down on their next possession and Harrison came through with a turn around jumper in the lane to lead 100-95 with 1:15 remaining
- Bucs made it a one possession again with 1:07 left after R.J. Johnson made two free throws
- On the Eagles ensuing possession they worked the shot clock down and Nick Johnson couldn't get a jumper off glass to fall but after the ball bounce around a couple of times Wilson collected at the top of the key and the Eagles called timeout with 36.7 to play
- Bucs got a defensive stop and had a chance to tie the game but Gause's three didn't fall and Wilson boarded the miss but falling out of bounds as he tried to find a teammate with a pass but it went out of bounds with five seconds left
- On the inbound, the Eagles fouled R.J. Johnson as he went to the line and missed the first which forced him to intentionally miss the second
- R.J. Johnson missed off the front of the rim and Nick Johnson rebounded the ball as he was fouled with 0.9 seconds left and made both free throws to clinch the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field while holding Charleston Southern to 36 percent
- The two teams combined for 90 free throws as the Bucs were 40-of-53 and Winthrop finished 21-for-37
- Bucs outrebounded the Eagles 60-48 and finished with 17 offensive rebounds that led to 24 points while the Eagles had 11 offensive rebounds and just seven second chance points
- Winthrop had 54 points in the paint compared to 42 for the Bucs
- Johnson's career-high 28 points led the Eagles as he finished 11-of-16 at the foul line
- Johnson scored 17 of his 28 in the overtime periods
- There were a total of 19 lead changes and the score was tied 22 times
NOTABLES
- This was the fourth triple overtime in program history as the Eagles improved to 4-0 all-time
- Eagles are now 44-32 all-time in overtime games and 25-16 in Big South regular season games
- Winthrop remains unbeaten inside the Winthrop Coliseum this season at 9-0
- The victory was the 10th straight for the Eagles against the Bucs and 4th straight at home
- Neither team led by more than five points at any time in the game
UP NEXT
Winthrop hits the road for the first of two road contests as it heads to Asheville, N.C. on Saturday, Jan. 18 to take on UNC Asheville at 2 p.m.
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