In a game that saw nine ties and 13 lead changes, the Winthrop Eagles narrowly edged the Presbyterian College men's basketball team to get the 57-56 Big South Conference win at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
With the loss, PC falls to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in conference play. The Eagles improve to .500 (7-7) and 2-1 in the Big South. The Blue Hose will meet the Radford Highlanders in Virginia on Saturday afternoon for a 4 p.m. Big South matchup. Winthrop will travel to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs on Saturday at 7 p.m.
DeSean Murray (Stanley, N.C.) was the high scorer and high rebounder for the Blue Hose with 24 points and 13 boards. William Truss (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Downing (Huntersville, N.C.) added nine points for PC.
Keon Moore tallied 15 points to lead the Eagles in scoring. Duby Okeke and Andre Smith scored 13 and 12 points each, respectfully.
PC and Winthrop were both 41% from the field. The hosts were 92% (11-12) from the foul line, while the Eagles were 89% (8-9). The Blue Hose were held to only one three pointer in the loss, but PC out-boarded the visitors 36-26.
PC scored the first six points of the game and held a slight lead before Winthrop's Keon Moore scored three treys to help tie it up 11-11 with 13:41 remaining in the first half. The score was tied five times and the lead was changed seven times during the first half, but the Eagles held a 29-26 lead at halftime. Murray led PC in the first half with 11 points and five rebounds, while Moore's three triples led the scoring for the Eagles. PC narrowly outrebounded Winthrop 17-16 in the first half, but was on the higher end of turnovers (7-6).
The Blue Hose opened the second half with five unanswered points to take an early 31-29 lead. The two teams kept the score within a few points, but Murray scored seven straight points for PC to give the hosts a 4-point, 48-44 lead with just over 8:00 to play. The Eagles outscored PC 9-2 over the next two minutes to take a 53-50 lead with five minutes to play. PC put together a 6-point scoring run to take back a 56-53 lead, but Winthrop scored the final four points of the game to get the close win.
