Winthrop Men’s Basketball Picks Up First Win At High Point In 8 Years
HIGH POINT, NC—Winthrop tied a school record 17 three-pointers en route to an 80-74 victory over High Point, Wednesday evening in the Millis Center.
The Eagles are now 2-0 on the road in the Big South as they improve to 10-4 on the year and 2-1 in the league. High Point falls to 7-8 overall and 1-2 in the Big South. The Eagles are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 7 when they host league-leading Longwood at 4 p.m.
The Panthers pulled within one point with 1:41 to play after Andre Fox scored on a drive. Winthrop responded with a jumper by Joshua Davenport in the lane and the Eagle defense held the Panthers scoreless the rest of the way to hold on for the six-point win.
The duo of Keon Johnson and Xavier Cooks had big nights for the Eagles as Johnson had a game-high 27 points while Cooks had 21 points. Cooks also had 11 rebounds to record his 12th career double-double. Bjorn Broman joined them in double-figures with 15 points (5-for-7 behind the arc) as he also had five assists. Johnson scored 21 second half points as he was 5-for-5 from three and finished the game 7-for-8 behind the arc.
In the second half Johnson became the program’s career leader in free throws made when he knocked down two technical free throws with 12:36 left in the game. He passed James Shuler, who held the record with 419.
The 17 threes tie the program’s single-game record set by the 2006-07 squad vs. North Greenville and the 1999-00 team set the record initially against UNC Asheville. It is a program record for threes on the road. Winthrop was 17-for-34 from three (50%) and finished the game shooting 45 percent from the floor.
Winthrop pushed its eight-point halftime lead to a 14-point advantage early in the second half. The Eagles opened up with second half with a 12-4 run behind three triples from Johnson and another by Cooks for the 52-38 lead. With the Eagles leading 52-43, High Point went on a 10-2 run to pull within three points at 56-53 with 10:05 to play. Fox scored three points during the run and Tarique Thompson had two layups as Cooks ended the run with a jumper in the lane. The Winthrop lead went back to nine points at 64-55 behind two more threes from Johnson.
High Point had forced Johnson into a turnover on a five-second call with 12:36 to play, but then Austin White was whistled for a technical as Johnson hit the two free throws to go up 56-49 for the only two points during the Panthers 10-2 run.
Miles Bowman Jr. and Thompson led the Panthers with 15 points each while Fox added 14 and Jamal Wright had 13. Bowman Jr. had a double-double as he pulled down 11 rebounds. The Panthers finished the game shooting 44 percent from the floor (3-for-19 from three) and were 19-for-24 at the foul line (79%).
Both teams got off to a slow start but four minutes into the game the teams started to trade baskets as High Point led 11-8 at the first media break. The Panthers pushed that lead to 19-12 after a long jumper by Thompson.
Adam Pickett answered with a straight away three to ignite a 14-2 run that included 11 consecutive points as the Eagles grabbed a 26-21 lead. The Pickett three was the first of four consecutive triples as Bjorn Broman, Anders Broman and Cooks joined in on the action behind the arc. The run was capped by a followed dunk from Cooks that forced a timeout by High Point.
The Panthers pulled within three points at 31-28, but the Eagles pushed the lead to 40-30 behind two threes from Bjorn Broman and another from Johnson.
Winthrop led 40-32 at the break thanks to 10-for-20 shooting behind the arc as they shot 42 percent from the floor. High Point shot 45 percent from the floor in the first half, but was just 2-for-10 from three.
EXTRA DRIBBLE
-Johnson hit the 20-point mark for the sixth time in his seven road game of the season
-Winthrop hit four threes to end the first half and four threes to start the second half
-Cooks posted his 12th career 20-point game and the Eagles are now 11-2 in games he records a double-double
-Winthrop is now 2-0 on the road in the Big South and 6-2 on the season
-It was the 40th game the Eagles have hit 10 or more threes under head coach Pat Kelsey as the team is 31-9 in those games
-The Eagles won their fourth straight game on the road this season, which is the first time since the end of the 2006-07 season and start of the 2007-08 season
–Bjorn Broman tied his career-best of five triples and it’s the second straight road game he’s scored 15 and hit five threes
-Was the first win at the Millis Center since Jan. 25, 2007 and the second win over High Point in the last three meetings
