Johnson City, Tenn. – Winthrop outscored Charleston Southern 12-0 in the final 28 seconds to rally for an 86-81 victory Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Basketball Championship.
WINTHROP (22-10, 13-3 Big South)
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (15-17, 6-10 Big South)
- A'Lahn Sumler (22 points, 6 rebounds, assist)
- Luke Williams (18 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, steal)
- Reis Jones (11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks)
FIRST HALF
- The teams traded runs for most of the first half
- Jacob Taylor's three for the Buccaneers opened the scoring at the 19:17 mark
- Bucs began the game with a 7-1 run, capped off by a drive and score from A'lahn Sumler
- The Eagles responded with an 8-1 run to grab their first lead of the game at 9-8 at the 13:43 mark
- The run began with two free throws from Kody Clouet followed by Kareem Rozier's jumper
- Daylen Berry made it a one point game with a step back jumper near the free throw line and then Logan Duncomb's two free throws put the Eagles in front
- After threes from Berry and Clouet the Eagles led 17-12 with 11:31 left in the half
- Bucs responded with a 9-0 run to regain the lead, 21-17 with just under nine to play
- Another 9-0 run by the Bucs gave them a double-digit lead with 6:18 on the clock, 30-19
- Luke Williams scored the first five points of the run, knocking down a three and then scoring at the rim
- Clouet stopped the run with two free throws that started a 9-0 run for the Eagles as he scored seven of the nine points to make it a one possession game with 4:41 mark
- The game remained a one possession game and the Eagles even took back the lead on a Berry jumper, but Jesse Hafemeister drilled a three to put the Bucs back in front at 36-34
- It remained a one possession game the rest of the half, but the Bucs held a 40-37 lead at the break
SECOND HALF
- Charleston Southern used an 8-0 run to open up an 11 point lead at 53-42 with 14:40 remaining
- The Bucs led by nine at 57-48 with 11:46 to play when the Eagles put together a 14-0 run to lead 62-57 with 8:42 remaining
- Rozier started the run as he scored off a drive and then just moments after subbing back into the game, Duncomb tipped in his own miss
- Berry tied the game at 57-57 with a three and then a Tommy Kamarad triple put the Eagles back in the lead
- Duncomb capped off the run as he scored at the rim for the five point lead
- Eagles led 72-68 when the Bucs turned the game in their favor as Sumler dropped in a three to start a 10-0 run to lead 78-72 with just under two minutes to play
- The Bucs led by seven with 45 seconds remaining as Duncomb found Josh Meo in the corner for a t three with 21.9 seconds to play
- After a timeout, the Eagles set up full court pressure and it paid off as Meo stole the ball and passed to Clouet who scored at the rim and was foule din the process
- Clouet completed the three-point play as the Eagles trailed 81-80
- Out of the made free throw, the Eagles full court pressure paid off again as Meo stole the ball and found Duncomb slashing to the rim as he scored to take the lead 82-81 with 16.1 left
- Winthrop ended up holding on as it outscored the Bucs 12-0 in the final 28 seconds
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 38 percent from the floor while Charleston Southern shot 42 percent
- The two teams combined for 54 free throws as the Eagles were 26-of-30 and the Bucs were 16-for-24
- Eagles dominated the glass 54-41 and had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 23 points
- The Bucs were 9-for-28 behind the arc while the Eagles finished 6-for-25
- Neither team turned the ball over much but the Bucs did turn seven turnovers into 12 points and the Eagles turned five turnovers into seven points
- Eagles had two steals the entire game and both came in the final 30 seconds of the game
NOTABLES
- With the win, Mark Prosser earns his 100th victory at the helm of the Eagle program
- He becomes just the second coach in league history to reach 100 wins in their first five seasons and the other is former Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey
- The Eagles advance to the semifinals of the Big South Tournament for the 26th time
- Duncomb posted his 13th double-double of the season 14th game with 20 or more points
- Winthrop has now won 13 of the last 14 meetings with the Bucs
- The 54 rebounds were a program record for the Eagles for the most in conference tournament game
- Clouet finished the game 9-for-9 at the free throw line, the second-best free throw percentage efficiency by an Eagle in the tournament (Eyo Effiong was 10-for-10 in the 2000 title game)
- The nine free throws are tied for the most in a conference tournament by an Eagle
UP NEXT
The Eagles advance to the semifinals on Saturday as they'll face the winner of Presbyterian and Radford at 2:30 p.m.
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