Career-High 22 Points For Burns Jr. As Eagles Win At High Point Thursday Night

High Point N.C. – D.J. Burns Jr. scored a career-high 22 points to help lead Winthrop to a 76-70 victory at High Point, Thursday night inside the Millis Center.

Just hours before the game tipped the Eagles were named Big South Conference regular season champions after Radford fell to Gardner-Webb. Winthrop also earns the top seed for the Big South Tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

WINTHROP (19-1, 16-1 Big South)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS

• D.J. Burns Jr. (22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block)
• Russell Jones Jr. (17 points, 3 assists)
• Josh Corbin (8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists)

HIGH POINT (8-12, 6-9 Big South)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS

• John-Michael Wright (27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists)
• Ahmil Flowers (10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist)
• Bryson Childress (9 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist)

FIRST HALF

• Panthers raced out to a 7-0 lead as John-Michael Wright started it off as he drove down the right side of the lane and scored off glass
• Then Ahmil Flowers scored five straight points that included a three-point play a minute and 41 seconds into the game
• Winthrop stopped the run when Josh Corbin found Chase Claxton down the middle of the lane as he took one dribble and slammed it home
• Jamal King buried a three followed by two free throws from Micheal Anumba to tie the game at 7-7
• With the game tied 9-9, Wright drilled a right wing three only to have Corbin match him a couple minutes later to tie the game again (12-12)
• Adonis Arms gave the Eagles their first lead when he stole the ball and went the distance for the layup
• The Corbin three sparked a 10-0 run as the Eagles took a 19-12 lead with 10:23 left in the half
• The run ended with another Corbin three as Arms found him open on the left wing
• High Point bounced back to take the lead with an 8-0 run highlighted by a three from Denny Slay and then a three-point play by Caden Sanchez
• Trailing 24-22 with just under six minutes remaining Burns Jr. took over for a stretch as he scored eight straight points for the Eagles for a 30-26 advantage
• Burns Jr. scored 10 of the final 12 points of the half for the Eagles with his last bucket at the 1:09 mark when he split a double team and finished with a reverse layup
• With just over three seconds left in the half, High Point inbounded the ball under its basket to Bryson Childress who dribbled across half court and launched a long three before the clock expired as it fell through the basket for a 40-34 lead at the break
• Winthrop shot 47 percent from the floor in the half while High Point knocked down 49 percent of its field goal attempts
• Winthrop had 10 turnovers that led to 16 points for High Point

SECOND HALF

• The teams traded baskets over the early going and a Chandler Vaudrin straight away triple had the Eagles within four points at 45-41
• Wright followed with a jumper as High Point scored six straight points for a double-figure lead at 51-41 with 16:29 remaining
• A Russel Jones Jr. corner three put the deficit back to single-digits and the Eagles grinded their way back to a one possession dunk on a drive and dunk by Arms to trail 53-51
• A second chance three from Childress put the Panthers up 56-51, but the Eagles continued to rally
• Jones Jr. hit a left wing three and then scored off a drive while being fouled as he completed the three-point play for a 57-56 lead
• A step back jumper by Burns Jr. pushed the lead to three only to have Wright come back to tie the game with a three-point play with a little over eight minutes to play
• That was the last time the game was tied as two free throws from Chase Claxton put the Eagles ahead 61-59 and then Vaudrin passed to Anumba in the corner for three
• After Wright scored, Burns Jr. hit a turn-around off glass for a 66-61 lead with 4:48 to play as High Point called timeout
• Winthrop pushed the lead to 70-63 and held off the Panthers down the stretch
• The Eagles held High Point to 33 percent shooting in the second half (1-of-10 behind the arc)

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Eagles shot 46 percent in the game (7-of-21 behind the arc) and were 19-for-26 at the foul line
• High Point finished the game shooting 41 percent (6-of-21 free three)
• Winthrop dominated the boards 44-27 as eight players had three or more rebounds
• Claxton tied his career-high of nine rebounds to lead the Eagles
• Paint points were even at 30-30 while High Point had an edge in second chance points at 13-11
• Burns Jr. led Winthrop with his career-high 22 points and was joined in double-figures by Jones Jr. with 17 points
• Jones Jr. led the way for a bench that contributed 40 points
• Wright led all scorers with 27 points as he also had a game-high 10 rebounds

NOTABLES

• The win gives the Eagles 11 straight road wins, which is the second-best active streak behind Belmont who has won 15 straight
• Winthrop set a program record for conference wins in a single-season at 16, which ties for the Big South mark set by 2010-11 Coastal Carolina and UNC Asheville in 2011-12
• Eagles have now won 17 of their last 18 games on the road
• The win gives Pat Kelsey 182 career victories, which ranks 4^th place in Big South history
• It was also the 109^th Big South win for Kelsey, who is now tied with Ron Bradley (Radford) for second all-time
• This was the sixth straight win over High Point and fourth straight win at the Millis Center
• Winthrop is now 39-4 in its last 43 games
• Eagles are now just one win away from back-to-back 20-win seasons