Jordan Downing scored over 30 points for the third time this season, but it wouldn't be enough as Winthrop pulled away in the second half to take the 82-60 win over the Presbyterian College men's basketball team this afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Blue Hose fall to 6-25 overall and 2-14 in the Big South and will enter the Big South Tournament as the South Division #6 Seed, where they will face North Division #3 Seed Radford Wednesday, March 5, at a time to be announced later.
Downing led all scorers with 34 points, just three from his career-high, followed by 12 from Reggie Dillard. William Truss pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds to add to his eight points. Christian Farmer was four-of-five in three-pointers to finish with 18 points for Winthrop. Joab Jerome was a close second with 17 points and a team-leading six rebounds.
Winthrop shot 51.9% in the second half to finish with 49.1% from the field for the game, while PC, which shot 57.9% in the second half, finished with 43.1%. PC had five more turnovers, 13-8, resulting in a 13-point swing for the Eagles. Winthrop held the 36-28 advantage on the boards and was 11-of-20 from three-point range. PC was six-of-19.
PC jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the game, before Winthrop capitalized on six straight misses by the Blue Hose, using a 9-2 run to take a 12-6 lead with 14:49 to go in the half.
Shooting over 50% for most of the first half, the Eagles took a five-point lead, 20-15, before Downing hit 10 of the game's next 14 points to tie the game, 23-23, with 7:31 on the clock. It was the start of a 12-3 run that saw PC take a four-point, 27-23 lead with 5:09 to go.
Back to back three-pointers by Winthrop and the Eagles quickly took back the lead 29-27, at 4:16. A Downing basket tied the game again at 29-29, but Winthrop out-scored PC, 12-5 the final four minutes, which included six from Keon Johnson, to head into the locker room with its largest lead of the game, 42-34.
The Eagles hit their first three of five points to open up a 13-point lead, 53-40, with 15:51 left to play. Dillard's second three-pointer of the game, at 15:18, cut the lead back down to 10, however.
PC kept the margin in the low teens, cutting it to 10 on several occasions, the last off a three-pointer from Dillard to make it 60-50, with 10:04 remaining.
Winthrop hit three three-pointers in a row and opened up a 19-point, 69-50 lead, with just 8:33 left on the clock.
The Blue Hose made it a 17-point game, 77-60, with 3:35 remaining, but that is as close as PC would get, falling by the final 82-60 score.
