ROCK HILL, South Carolina — Winthrop couldn't overcome a slow start to the second half as it fell 64-57 to North Carolina Central, Wednesday evening at the Winthrop coliseum in men's basketball non-conference action.With the loss, the Eagles finish their pre-conference schedule at 6-6 while NCCU improved to 7-7.
The second half didn't go well for the Eagles after Andre Smith made it a two-point game with a three pointer on Winthrop's first possession of the second half at the 19:25 mark. NCCU responded with a 7-0 run capped off by a Jeremy Ingram three-pointer for a 36-27 lead with 16:45 remaining.
Winthrop's Larry Brown ended the run with a jumper in the lane, but NCCU scored eight straight points to build its largest lead of the game, 44-29 with 14:55 to play. Over the eight and a half minutes the Eagles worked their way back into the game and cut the lead to single digits after a Derrick Henry pull-up jumper at the foul line in transition. Henry's jumper with 3:55 remaining cut the lead to five points, 53-48. The lead extended back to seven points after Ray Willis dropped two free throws only to have Brown score again on a tip-in to cut the lead back to five with 2:48 to play.The Eagles defense got the stop it needed but had some wind knocked out of them on the offensive end when Brown looked like he had been bowled over and was on the ground, but was whistled for the illegal screen and the offensive foul. NCCU went down and scored on a jumper with 1:07 to play.
“I give a lot of credit to them (NCCU),” said Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey. “I told our team I think an NCAA tournament type team beat us today. I may be wrong as I haven't seen the rest of their conference but I think they have a chance of representing their conference in the NCAA Tournament this year. A good team beat us tonight and I got to tip my hat to them.”
Henry led the team in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-13 shooting while Brown added a career-high 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting and also pulled down seven rebounds. Gideon Gamble chipped in with nine points and three assists.
Winthrop fell behind 9-2 early as Ingram scored the first nine points of the game for NCCU. Both teams struggled shooting in the middle part of the first half as Winthrop slowly worked its way to a 10-8 deficit after Brown knocked down a jumper in the lane with 10:44 on the clock. NCCU answered with a deep three on the wing by Willis followed by another three by Drimir Ferguson for a 16-8 lead with 7:19 to play. The two teams traded baskets the next few possessions and NCCU even extended the lead to seven points with just under four minutes before the Eagles fought their way back.
Gamble capped off a 9-2 run with a jumper and a fast break lay-up off the assist from Henry to tie the game at 24-24 with 1:19 on the clock. The tie was short lived as Antonin Galaya pulled up quickly for a three to lead 27-24 where the score would stand at halftime.
Winthrop struggled to hit shots early in the half but finished the half shooting 39 percent while NCCU shot 44 percent (4-for-9 behind the arc). The Eagles, averaging 21 three-point attempts per game, only attempted three shots behind the arc in the first half.
NCCU was led by Ingram's 22 points as he was 8-for-8 at the foul line to pace his team that finished 18-for-20 at the charity stripe on the night. Stanton Kidd added 14 points and eight rebounds while Willis had 10 points.
The Eagles finished the night shooting 44 percent from the field and allowed NCCU to shoot 50 percent, which is the first in the last nine games to do so. Winthrop finished with a season-low 10 three-point attempts and was just 2-for-10. NCCU finished 8-for-17 behind the arc.
Winthrop will open up its Big South Conference slate this Saturday, Jan. 5 at 2 p.m. when it hosts High Point University.
Box Score
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COURTESY WINTHROP UNIVERSITY AND NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
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