High Point holds off Winthrop in OT, snaps Eagles’ winning streak
Keon Johnson pumped his legs in front of press row and launched in a game-tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds left and Winthrop trailing High Point 83-80 in overtime Saturday.
The Winthrop Coliseum crowd throbbed, few noticing that Johnson’s fist pumps immediately after the shot weren’t celebratory. Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey had called timeout just before his star guard shot the ball and the 3 was waved off by the officials. Johnson missed two more 3-point attempts in the final seconds and High Point (12-10, 6-4 Big South) held on to break the Eagles’ seven-game winning streak.
“I just felt like we were a little discombobulated. The bigs were starting to come out in a double ball screen and I just didn’t feel good about it,” Kelsey said.
The coach can’t call a live-ball timeout, but Winthrop players signaled to the referee who blew his whistle.
“It happened almost simultaneously,” Kelsey said. “I shouldn’t say unfortunately it went in, but unfortunately it went in.”
The play pic.twitter.com/muBOYeu4Rr
— Bret McCormick (@Bretjust1T) January 28, 2017
The loss tugged Winthrop (16-5, 8-2) back into a three-way tie for first place with UNC Asheville and Liberty, though the Eagles already beat both of those teams. Winner of the Big South regular season championship gets home court advantage in the conference tournament in March. High Point started 1-4 in conference play but is starting to claw back into the race; Saturday was its fifth straight win.
“This is a tremendous win against the best team in the league, record-wise,” said Panthers coach Scott Cherry.
A 10-0 run gave Winthrop its largest cushion of the first half at 38-24. Buckets from Tevin Prescott and Johnson and two Adam Pickett free throws, before Johnson had a funky finish roll around the rim and in, then hit two free throws, did the damage. Winthrop defended actively in the first half, producing seven steals and five blocked shots, but High Point erased the 14-point deficit with a 9-0 run of its own. The Eagles sputtered through a scoreless final 3 minutes, 11 seconds of the first, taking a 38-33 lead into the break.
Turning point
High Point outscored Winthrop 20-2 in a 7-minute stretch spanning halftime and it was game-on from there. With the score tied at 75 and seconds remaining in regulation, Johnson crashed into the lane but couldn’t get a shot off. In overtime, Winthrop got on the board first but fell behind when Andre Fox scored twice and Ricky Madison muscled in a bucket to make it 81-78. Prescott dropped in a two with 41 seconds left and cut the Panthers’ lead to one, but Fox, who was yoked with foul trouble much of the game, hopped into the lane and got a jumper to bobble around and in to make it 83-80.
That left Winthrop with a final possession to try and tie the game.
“I didn’t see it, but I heard the whistle go off,” said Cherry. “We’ll take that someone called the timeout. Don’t know who it was, but thank you.”
Critical
High Point made just three 3-pointers in a six-point loss to Winthrop on Jan. 4, but the Panthers hit 10 of 21 Saturday. The visitors were Winthrop’s first opponent to hit double-digit triples since Dec. 31.
Star contributors
Johnson, who missed several days of practice earlier in the week to go back to Ohio for his grandmother’s funeral, scored 12 straight points during one stretch of the second half.
The Winthrop senior came out of his footwear on one Eagles offensive possession, but found it amidst a scrum of players, got the ball and rainbowed in a 3 with a defender right in his face, part of 20 points in the second half. He finished with 31, though the last 3 that didn’t count is probably all he’ll remember.
Cooks had another active afternoon, scoring 19 points and grabbing eight boards and Prescott added 10, though High Point outscored Winthrop’s bench, a rarity.
Bowman Jr. was a menace for the Panthers, especially outside where he hit six 3-pointers in an especially sizzling shooting effort that produced 22 points, and also 10 rebounds. Anthony Lindauer kicked in 15 points off the bench, while Fox was immense in overtime. Bowman Jr. suffered a leg injury on the final play of regulation and didn’t play in the extra period, but Fox emerged and scored a couple of big buckets.
On deck
Winthrop travels to Radford Wednesday.
Box score
HIGH POINT 83, WINTHROP 80, OT
HIGH POINT (12-10): Madison 4-8 1-1 9, Bowman 7-13 2-2 22, White 2-6 1-1 5, Fox 5-8 0-0 10, Wright 1-4 2-4 5, Thompson 7-15 3-3 17, Vargo 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Lindauer 6-12 0-0 15. Totals 32-68 9-11 83.
WINTHROP (16-5): Perkins 1-4 1-3 4, Okeke 0-0 1-2 1, B.Broman 0-3 4-4 4, Johnson 11-18 4-4 31, Cooks 7-17 4-5 19, Davenport 1-3 0-0 2, Prescott 5-9 0-2 10, Ferguson 0-0 2-2 2, A.Broman 0-1 3-3 3, Pickett 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 26-57 21-27 80.
Halftime—Winthrop 38-33. End Of Regulation—Tied 75. 3-Point Goals—High Point 10-21 (Bowman 6-7, Lindauer 3-7, Wright 1-2, Thompson 0-1, Vargo 0-1, Madison 0-1, Fox 0-2), Winthrop 7-16 (Johnson 5-7, Cooks 1-2, Perkins 1-3, A.Broman 0-1, B.Broman 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—High Point 33 (Bowman 10), Winthrop 31 (Cooks 8). Assists—High Point 13 (Wright 7), Winthrop 8 (Cooks 3). Total Fouls—High Point 17, Winthrop 16. A—2,255 (6,100).
This story was originally published January 28, 2017 at 5:01 PM with the headline "High Point holds off Winthrop in OT, snaps Eagles’ winning streak."