Eagles Fall At High Point In Final Seconds, 73-72
HIGH POINT, NC— Winthrop men’s basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss as John Brown hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to hand the Eagles a 73-72 loss at High Point, Wednesday night at the Millis Center.
The loss is the seventh straight by the Eagles at the Millis Center as they fall to 13-11 overall and 8-5 in the Big South. High Point improves to 18-7 on the year and 9-4 in the league. Winthrop will look to bounce back as it is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. when it hosts Gardner-Webb.
Winthrop led by three points as the Panthers looked to tie the game after calling a timeout with 12.9 seconds left in the game. The Eagles defended for a few seconds before senior Keon Moore fouled Devante Wallace with 5.2 seconds left. Wallace made both free throws to cut the deficit to one point and Keon Johnson was fouled on the inbound pass with 4.5 seconds left. Johnson missed the front end of the one-and-one and freshman Duby Okeke was whistled for a foul on the miss while going for the free throw. That put Brown on the line with 3.1 seconds left and he drained them both.
“Instead of giving them an opportunity to tie the game with a three-point field goal you put them at the line and all they can make is two,” said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. “If they miss it you gotta block out and get a rebound. He made both, we inbounded it and they fouled an 85-86 percent free throw shooter. The percentages are in your favor and unfortunately the ball didn’t go in (Johnson’s free throw). He happened to miss the first one and Duby went for the offensive rebound and unfortunately fouled the young man who went down and made some big free throws.”
With 3:28 to play in the game, Winthrop led by 10 points after Moore hit back-to-back threes. High Point responded with six straight points all scored by Brown. Tevin Prescott then hit two free throws for a six-point advantage with 1:16 to play but Wallace drained a three just 13 seconds later to cut the lead in half. The Eagles missed two shots on their possession with 25 seconds left and that set up the opportunity to make it a one-point game or take the lead for High Point.
Moore finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-for-14 from the field, including 7-for-10 behind the arc as he tied his career-high of three-pointers made. He was joined in double-figures by senior Andre Smith with 11 points and freshman Xavier Cooks added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Winthrop, which led by as much as 16 points in the second half, shot 44 percent in the game and was 13-for-26 (50 percent) from three as it dropped its first game this season when winning the battle of the boards. The Eagles had 14 offensive rebounds and finished with a 37-28 rebounding edge.
Brown led all scorers as he tied his career-high of 34 points on 11-for-16 from the field and 12-for-15 at the line. Wallace was the only other Panther in double-figures with 11 points but was perfect in the game going 3-for-3 behind the arc and 2-for-2 at the foul line. The Panthers shot 54 percent in the second half to finish at 46 percent from the field in the game. They were 8-for-17 from three and finished 19-for-23 at the line.
Winthrop built a double-figure halftime advantage behind a tenacious rebounding effort and solid defense as it led 38-28 at the break. The Eagles pushed the lead to 15 points late in the half but the final five points of the half were scored by the Panthers to trim the Winthrop lead to 10. The Eagles have led all seven road games in the Big South at the half and are now 4-3 on the road.
An emphatic dunk by Okeke off a nice feed from Joshua Davenport with 12:15 to play in the half sparked a 12-0 run by the Eagles that opened the game up.High Point’s Anthony Lindauer had just tied the game with a three when a few possessions later Okeke slammed it home. That was followed by a deep Moore three from the wing as he nailed another three to complete the 12-0 run.
The Eagles shot 47 percent from the floor and were 6-for-12 behind the arc in the first 20 minutes while High Point shot 39 percent and was 3-for-8 from three.