The Blue Hose rallied from 10 points down to cut it to two with a minute and a half remaining, but the Eagles made clutch free throws down the stretch to hold on to the 71-67 win over the Presbyterian College basketball team in the Big South opener for both teams tonight at Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
PC, which heads to UNC Asheville Saturday, Jan. 11, for a 2 p.m. game, moves to 4-12 overall and 0-1 on the year, while Winthrop improves to 7-6, 1-0.
Jordan Downing paced the home team with 20 points, followed by Reggie Dillard with 14. William Truss, who had 10 points on the night, led the Blue Hose in rebounds with seven.
Keon Moore led Winthrop with 16 points, followed by Tevin Prescott and Joab Jerome with 10 each. Larry Brown pulled down eight boards for the Eagles in the win.
The Blue Hose shot 50.0% from the field, including 57.7% in the first half, while Winthrop shot 47.4% overall, 53.8% in the second. The Eagles held the slight 31-30 edge in rebounds and had seven less turnovers, 8-13, resulting in a 22-7 margin for Winthrop in points off turnovers. PC went 10-of-27 from the perimeter, compared to seven-of-23 for Winthrop.
A 12-2 run by Winthrop, highlighted by five points from Moore, midway through first half erased a seven-point PC lead as the Eagles went up 22-19 with 8:22 left in the first half.
The Eagles extended the lead to eight, 36-30, with 2:46 left. Behind five points from Danny Herrera, PC rallied the final two-and-a-half minutes with seven unanswered to retake the lead and head into the locker room at intermission up 37-36.
Herrera opened the second half with a basket to give the Blue Hose a three-point, 39-36 lead before the Eagles scored 11 of the game's next 15 points, capped by a three-pointer from Jarad Scott to take the lead back, 49-43, with 13:40 remaining.
A Downing lay-up and Dillard three-pointer cut the Eagle lead to just three with 6:53 remaining, but two quick Winthrop baskets made it a seven-point game again with just over five minutes to go.
Dillard came through again at 4:08 with his fourth three-pointer of the night to make it a four-point game. However, back to back three-pointers gave the Eagles a double-digit lead for the first time, 65-55, with just over three to play.
Dillard's lay-up with 1:13 to go ignited an 8-0 run, off back to back threes by Downing, and cut Winthrop's lead to just two, 67-65 at the 27-second mark. A lay-up by Moore and four straight free throws held PC at bay and gave the Eagles the 71-67 win.
