Johnson City, Tenn. – Winthrop men's basketball fell 81-69 to top-seeded High Point in the 2025 Hercules Big South Championship title game, Sunday afternoon inside Freedom Hall.
WINTHROP (23-11, 11-5 Big South)
HIGH POINT (29-5, 14-2 Big South)
- Bobby Pettiford (17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, block, 2 steals)
- Kezza Giffa (16 points, 3 rebounds, assist)
- Trae Benham (8 points, 10 rebounds, block, 2 steals)
FIRST HALF
- High Point opened the scoring as Kezza Giffa knocked down a triple
- It was 5-0 in favor of the Panthers when Nick Johnson scored the first points for the Eagles as he powered his way into the paint and knocked down a short jumper
- Back-to-back dunks by Juslin Bodo Bodo put the Panthers up 9-2 at the 17:03 mark
- Eagles came back with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 9-9 as K.J. Doucet and Tommy Kamarad buried back-to-back threes
- D'maurian Williams quickly put High Point on top with a three to lead 12-9 and then Kimani Hamilton drove and scored with a layup to lead 14-9
- Kasen Harrison dropped in a jumper in the paint that ignited a 12-0 run as the Eagles took their first lead of the game
- Johnson scored in a short pullup in the lane and then Logan Duncomb's layup put the Eagles in front 15-14
- After a defensive stop the Eagles made it eight straight points as Bryce Baker knocked down a jumper at the right elbow
- Talford scored on a second chance inside and then Harrison scored off glass on a drive down the right side of the lane to lead 21-14 with 9:18 left in the half
- Bodo Bodo put an end to the run with a second chance layup, but was answer with a left wing three by Johnson to put Winthrop in front 24-16
- Eagles moved their lead to double-digits at the 6:39 as they took advantage of a second chance opportunity and Baker drilled a right wing three to lead 28-18
- Baker drilled another three followed by Talford scoring on a spin move to finish off glass for a layup to lead 33-18 at the 5:09 mark
- Eagles were able to hold on to a double-digit lead at the half, 39-29
SECOND HALF
- Talford scored on the first possession of the second half to put the Eagles in front by 12
- Another three from Baker had the Eagles in front 48-33 with 15:53 to play in the game
- Bobby Pettiford answered the Baker three with one of his own and that started a 14-0 run that included seven points off turnovers
- High Point pulled within a point with the run at 48-47 at the 12:29 mark, but Talford stopped the run with a short jumper inside
- Trae Benham tied the game at 50-50 with a little over 10 minutes remaining with a three
- Eagles came right back down the court and scored as Harrison hit Kamarad on the way to the basket and he absorbed contact and finished at the rim to put the Eagles back on top
- Giffa tied it again as he scored on a drive down the left side the lane with a tough finish
- Panthers took a 55-52 lead with 8:55 to play when Benham stole the ball and took off on the break and finished with an And-1
- Benham made the free throw for a three-point advantage
- On the next Winthrop possession Harrison converted two free throws to make it a one point game
- Terry Anderson stole the ball and went the distance to make it a three-point lead and then after Harrison couldn't get a short jumper to fall, the Panthers went down and buried a three by Abdoulaye Thiam for a six point lead with 7:40 left
- It was a four point game after a Doucet layup with just over six minutes remaining, but from that point until the end of the game High Point seemed to match every Eagle bucket as the lead stayed between 5-7 points until 2:20 remaining as Thiam hit a three for an eight point lead
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 42 percent as High Point finished at 45 percent
- Eagles were 7-of-27 from three while the Panthers were 8-of-26
- The teams combined to only shoot 18 free throws as the Eagles were 6-for-11 and High Point was 7-of-7
- High Point had a 42-38 edge on the glass with 13 offensive boards while the Eagles had 11
- The Panthers outscored the Eagles 50-40 in the paint
- Talford led five Eagles in double-figures with 15, Johnson and Baker had 11 and Harrison and Doucet each finished with 10
- Pettiford led the Panthers with 17 points off the bench
NOTABLES
- This was the 19th Big South Championship game appearance in program history as the Eagles are 13-6 all-time
- This was also the program's fourth title appearance in the last six seasons
- Talford finishes his career ranked second in program history with career points 1,867 points and 937 rebounds
- The Eagles finish the season with 23 wins for the 11th time in program history and 9th in their D1 Era
- Eagles finished the season winning 10 of the last 12 games
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)
