Johnson City, Tenn. – Winthrop men's basketball earned a trip to the 2025 Hercules Tires Big South Conference Basketball Tournament semifinals with an 88-79 victory over sixth-seeded Longwood, Friday night inside the Freedom Hall Civic Center.
WINTHROP (22-10, 11-5 Big South)
- K.J. Doucet (17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, block)
- Kasen Harrison (15 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals)
- Kelton Talford (16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, block, steal)
Longwood (18-14, 7-9 Big South)
- Colby Garland (24 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists)
- Michael Christmas (15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals)
- Elijah Tucker (10 points, 7 rebounds)
FIRST HALF
- Longwood opened the scoring as Elijah Tucker scored an And-1 and converted the free throw for a 3-0 lead
- Kasen Harrison answered on the other end with a floater to trail 3-2
- Michael Christmas scored on a reverse layup and then Colby Garland scored off a drive to put Longwood up 7-2 at the 18:03 mark
- Trailing 8-4, Talford scored at the rim off a dish from Harrison
- On the ensuing possession Paul Jones III pass the ball to Doucet who whipped it back to Jones III in the left corner and he buried a three to put Winthrop in front of the first time at 9-8
- Harrison then stole the ball and finished at the other end for a 6-0 spurt and an 11-8 advantage at the 15:54 mark
- Eagles ended up making it an 10-0 run as Talford scored inside and then Doucet at the rim with 11:41 left in the half to lead 15-8
- A three by Jaylen Benard from the left wing put a stop to the Winthrop run, cutting the lead to 15-11
- It was a three-point lead for the Eagles at the 7:26 mark after Kyrell Luc hit 1-of-2 free throws
- Bryce Baker buried a three to lead 26-20 and ignite a big run as the Eagles outscored the Lancers 22-4 over the final 6:49 of the half
- The run included four threes in which three of them came in the final 1:33 as a Doucet triple put the Eagles up 39-22 and then off a steal in transition Nick Johnson buried a right wing three for a 20-point lead
- Baker scored the final points of the half with a three to lead 45-24 at the break
SECOND HALF
- Eagles opened the second half the same way they ended the first with a three as Doucet connected from the right wing
- Longwood worked its way to a 17 point Winthrop lead on a couple of occasions in the first four minutes, but a Baker three from the right wing put the Eagles back up by 20 with 16:04 remaining
- Following the three by Baker, Longwood was whistled for a technical foul and Johnson hit 1-of-2 free throws to lead 54-33
- Eagles got the ball after the free throws and Talford scored inside for a 56-33 advantage with 15:51 to play
- A drive and score by Isaiah Wilson put the Eagles up 23 with 14:09 to play
- Garland scored off a drive for Longwood to spark a 10-0 run in a span of 2:25 to pull within 15 points with 11:06 remaining and a forcing a Winthrop timeout
- Out of the timeout, Baker drained a left wing three in front of the Eagle bench to put the Eagles back up by 18
- The Lancers used a 7-0 run to cut the Winthrop lead down to 10 points with 7:14 remaining
- Harrison snapped the run as he went to the foul line and hit 1-of-2
- The lead was back to single digits at the 6:16 mark after a drive and score by Luc
- A Christmas three at the 5:31 mark pulled the Lancers within eight points, but Talford had a big response
- Talford cut through the Longwood defense down the middle of the lane as he received a pass from Tommy Kamarad and finished at the rim with an And-1 as he complete the three-point play
- Then after a defensive stop Talford boarded a missed three and carved his way through defenders to finish with a layup for five straight points to lead 79-66 with 4:16 to play
- A Johnson corner three with 2:59 left put the Eagles back up by 12 but Longwood cut the lead back to single digits with two minutes left after Garland scored on a short jumper
- Eagles answered right back as Harrison found Baker on the left wing as he buried his 5th triple of the game and the Eagles held on
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop made five of its final seven shots to help clinch the win as it finished shooting 57 percent from the floor
- Longwood shot 36 percent from the field and was 5-of-20 from three
- Eagles knocked down 13 threes and finished 13-for-31
- Lancers finished with a 42-34 advantage on the glass that included 16 offensive boards that led to 16 points
- Winthrop dished 19 assists, led by Harrison's career-high 11 dimes
- The two teams combined to shoot 74 free throws as Longwood was 30-of-42 and the Eagles were 17-for-32
- Doucet led five Eagles in double-figures with 17 points
- Talford finished with his 9th double-double of the season as he finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds
NOTABLES
- The victory gives the Eagles 22 wins on the year, the 10th 22-win season at the NCAA D1 level and 12th total in program history
- Winthrop advances to the conference tournament semifinals for the 25th time
- Talford moved into 2nd on Winthrop's all-time list for career rebounds (916), moving past Charles Brunson (913)
- Eagles led 45-24, which was the exact same halftime score the last time the two teams met on Feb. 27 in Farmville, Va.
- The 42 free throws by the Lancers were the most by an opponent in a regulation game against the Eagles this season (Charleston Southern at 53 in the triple overtime game on Jan. 15)
- The 13 threes were the 3rd most by the Eagles in a conference tournament game
- Eagles have now won four straight games and have scored 81 or more in each of the wins
- With the win, head coach Mark Prosser ties Randy Peele for 4th on the all-time win list at Winthrop
- Harrison's 11 assists were a program record for any conference tournament game, breaking Chandler Vaudrin's mark of 10 set on Mar. 1, 2021
UP NEXT
Winthrop advance to Saturday afternoon's semifinal and will take on second-seeded UNC Asheville at 2:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship contest
STAY CONNECTED
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