Andre Jones scored 24 points, including the go-ahead basket with just under a minute remaining, to give the Winthrop Eagles the 59-56 win over the Presbyterian College men's basketball team tonight in front of 1,002 fans at Templeton Center.
Winthrop improves to 2-5 and 1-0 in the Big South, while PC falls to 3-4 and 0-1.
Down by four, 35-31, with 15:45 remaining the Eagles, sparked by 10 points from Jones, used an 18-7 run to go up 49-42 with 7:19 on the clock. PC fought back to cut the margin to one at 2:04 off a three-pointer by Khalid Mutakabbitr (Suwanee, Ga.), who led the team with 14 points.
After a lay-up by Winthrop's Matt Morgan with 1:40 left put the margin to three, Pierre Miller's only three-pointer of the night hit the rim and bounced up before sinking through the net to knot the game at 54-54, with 1:31 left.
PC fouled the next Winthrop possession and after the Eagles went one-for-two from the charity stripe, the Blue Hose drove the length of the floor, down by four 58-54, before Al'Lonzo Coleman (Charlotte, N.C.) was sent to the line. He hit both to cut the margin to two.
The Blue Hose fouled Morgan the next possession and he went one-for-two to give PC one final play, down by three. Pierre Miller drove to the three-point arc and set to shoot the possible game-tying shot but was stripped by Andre Smith who held on to the ball as time expired to give the Eagles the three-point, 59-56 win.
In a closely played game in the first half PC took its largest lead, a five-point 14-9 margin with 8:07 remaining, before Winthrop used a 7-2 run, highlighted by four points from Jones, to tie the game at 16-16, with 6:22 before intermission.
After a see-saw battle that didn't see either team take more than a two-point lead, Mutakabbir hit a lay-up with 47 seconds left to give the Blue Hose a two-point, 27-25 lead and looked to take that margin into the locker room. Just 15 seconds later Winthrop's Jones connected for the two-pointer. As a result both teams headed to the locker room for intermission tied for the seventh time in the half 27-27.
Following Mutakabbir's 14 points, was Jay Reynolds (Maryville, Tenn.) with his 12 points on the night. Josh Clyburn (Charlotte, N.C.) paced the team in rebounds with eight. Behind Jones' 24 points for Winthrop was Reggie Middleton with 10. Shola Diop and George Valentine both had a team-leading six boards.
While PC was 18-for-25 from the charity stripe, it was just a season-low two-for-21 from beyond the three-point arc. Winthrop was five-of-nine in three-pointers and eight-for-15 in free throws.
Winthrop shot 41.8 percent from the field, including 52.0 in the second half. PC hit 18-of-49 for 36.7 percent for the game.
PC edged Winthrop in turnovers, 16-14, and had five more rebounds, 37-32.
The Blue Hose have just a day off as they host Radford Saturday, Dec.3, at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the radio at WLBG AM-860 or www.GoBlueHose.com. Fans unable to attend can watch live on-line for a nominal fee at www.BigSouthSports.com.
