Boiling Springs, N.C. – Winthrop men's basketball nearly overcame a 16-point second half deficit as it fell 89-83 at Gardner-Webb, Wednesday evening inside Paul Porter Arena.
WINTHROP (11-7, 1-2 Big South)
- Kelton Talford (21 points, 10 rebounds, assist, block, steal)
- Nick Johnson (17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, steal)
- K.J. Doucet (16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, block, 2 steals
GARDNER-WEBB (7-9, 2-1 Big South)
- Anthony Selden (20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Jamaine Mann (14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, steal)
- Darryl Simmons II (17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- Anthony Seldon drove and scored 13 seconds in for an early lead for Gardner-Webb
- A short jumper in the paint by Jamaine Mann followed by a basket by Seldon as he drove baseline and scored for a 6-0 lead
- The Runnin' Bulldogs made it a 12-0 run to start the game after Mann buried a right wing three followed by a three from Darryl Simmons II
- The run ended as Nick Johnson got to the foul line and hit 1-of-2
- Back-to-back layups put Gardner-Webb up 16-1 with 14:37 left in the half
- Johnson scored an And-1 at the 14:26 mark as he hit a short baseline jumper and converted the three-point play to trail 16-4
- Eagles made it a single-digit game at the 11:06 mark after Yoro Diallo scored on a stick back
- Winthrop held the Runnin' Bulldogs scoreless for four minutes but were only able to pull within nine points and then Pharrell Boyogueno hit a three for a 22-10 lead
- Eagles kept chipping away as Kasen Harrison made it a 10-point deficit with 5:01 left with an elbow jumper
- On the next possession following a turnover, Harrison drove down the right side of the lane and scored off glass to draw the Eagles within eight points at 28-20 with 4:19 remaining in the half
- K.J. Doucet scored on a drive and score to make it an eight point deficit but Gardner-Webb regained the double-digit lead as Richards buried a three
- Ryan Jolly answered right back for the Eagles with a corner three of his own to make it an eight point game again
- Winthrop had a chance to cut the deficit in half and pull within two possession, however, Kelton Talford and Doucet each missed two free throws on back-to-back possessions
- In spite of that the Eagles were within seven points after Paul Jones III hit a right win three as the shot clock expired and the deficit was single-digits at the half, 37-28
SECOND HALF
- Gardner-Webb opened the second half with a score at the rim by Selden and used a 6-2 spurt to lead by 14 at the 18:48 mark
- Runnin' Bulldogs built their largest lead of the game at 16 with 16:42 to play
- Eagles responded with an 8-0 run to pull within eight points with just a little over 15 minutes remaining
- The run started as Harrison scored off the drive and then the last six points of the run came off turnovers as Doucet topped it off at the 15:03 mark to trail 49-41
- Gardner-Webb answered ensuing possession with a three from Simmons II to get the lead back to double-figures
- Isaiah Wilson converted two free throws to make it a single-digit deficit again at 52-43 and then Talford finished with a strong dunk off a feed from Jolly to get the Eagles within seven points with 13:33 to play
- Talford made it a two possession game at the 13:05 mark after Talford scored inside
- Mann answered for Gardner-Webb as he scored off the drive and was fouled, converting the three-point play to push the lead back to nine
- Eagles came right down the court and Talford finished with an And-1
- Talford missed the free throw but boarded his own miss and finished with a dunk to trail 56-51 with 12:26 remaining
- Two free throws by Talford with 11:48 left go the Eagles within three points at 56-56
- With 10:53 left in the game, Johnson pushed the ball up the court to Doucet who buried a three to get the Eagles within two points
- Eagles came all the way back to tie the game at 60-60 with 9:47 to play after Talford scored on a stick back off his own miss
- Gardner-Webb went back up by six points with 6:37 left after a Boyogueno three, but Johnson answered with a triple to keep it a one possession game
- After a turnover on the other end, Harrison made it a one point game after scoring off the drive
- Winthrop grabbed its first lead of the game at 70-69 after Johnson scored at the rim
- The lead was short lived as Boyogueno hit another three for a 72-70 lead with 5:21 to play
- Talford tied it at 72-72 as Wilson fed Talford and he knocked down a short jumper in the paint
- Gardner-Webb went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to lead 80-72
- Doucet ended the run with a layup to make it a two possession game again with 2:29 left
- Johnson stole the ball in the post and then whipped a long pass to Harrison in transition as he scored while being fouled and completed the three-point play to pull within 80-77
- Jones III made it a one point game with 1:34 left as he drove to the paint and knocked down a short jumper
- It was a one point game when Simmons II hit a left corner three to lead 85-81 with 30.9 seconds to play
- Johnson had a good look from the left wing for three, but the shot got lodged in between the rim and backboard and possession arrow favored Gardner-Webb
- Selden was fouled on the inbound with 19.7 seconds remaining and made both free throws for a six point lead
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 54 percent as it shot 57 percent in the second half while Gardner-Webb finished at 48 percent
- The teams combined for 63 free throws as the Eagles were 21-of-38 and Gardner-Webb finished 21-of-25
- Winthrop scored 25 points off 16 Gardner-Webb turnovers
- Gardner-Webb won the battle on the glass 39-29 and had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 18 points
- Points in the paint favored the Eagles 48-38
- Talford scored 10 straight points in the second half to pull the Eagles within three points after trailing by 16 at the 16:42 mark and scored 20 of his 21 points in the final 20 minutes
NOTABLES
- Talford scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds to record his 20th career double-double (6th of the season)
- Talford moved past 1,600 career points and is now 1-of-10 active players at the NCAA D1 level with 1,600 career points and 800 career rebounds
- Johnson had 17 points and has now been in double-figures eight of the last nine games
UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home to take on Longwood on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop men's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@Winthrop_MBB), Instagram (@Winthrop_MBB) and Facebook (/WinthropEagles)
