Upperclassmen Hale, Ferguson shine on Winthrop basketball’s Senior Day vs. High Point

The storyline couldn’t have unfolded any other way.

On Senior Day in Winthrop Coliseum, the two Eagle upperclassmen honored for their time in the program paced their team. Hunter Hale, the team’s graduate transfer, hit 6-of-12 threes on the way to a 22-point performance, while Josh Ferguson, a senior, added 14 — guiding Winthrop to an 84-76 victory over High Point to close out the regular season.

“On Senior Night, it’s always good to get a win, and I think our upperclassmen – our seniors – were really good,” Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said postgame. “Hunter made some big-time shots late. I mean, huge, dagger shots. Josh was his steady, really efficient self.”

For a man not always capable of making understatements, Kelsey accomplished the feat.

Winthrop (21-10, 15-3 Big South) joined its visitor in racing out to a hot start, as the Eagles and Panthers both connected on 6-of-10 tries to begin the proceedings. The Eagles were unable to secure an advantage larger than two possessions in the opening 20 but fended off the precise Panthers by sinking threes. Eight of Winthrop’s 17 first-half buckets came from distance.

Chandler Vaudrin was a significant key to the Eagles’ first-half offensive numbers. Vaudrin made or assisted on 13 of those 17 baskets, dishing 10 dimes without committing a turnover. Despite that prowess, Winthrop took a slim, 46-42 lead to the interval. High Point connected on 60 percent (15-for-25) of its first-half shots, including 3-of-4 from distance. John-Michael Wright led all scorers at the horn with 16 for High Point, while Jamal Wright added 11.

The home side got a jolt of energy to start the second half, compelling a High Point timeout just 1:44 into the second period on the heels of a 7-0 Winthrop run. High Point (9-22, 6-12) quickly answered the burst, countering with a 10-0 run of its own to again narrow the margin to one possession.

Winthrop secured a bit more separation with back-to-back Charles Falden triples, which staved off an icy stretch in which the Eagles went just 2-for-13 before a Jamal King trey at the 10:36 mark again extended the advantage to seven. The Panthers quieted the partisan home crowd as the minutes wound down, with an 8-0 Panther run reducing the margin to four.

Then, Hale’s time came.

‘Basketball is a game of runs’

The graduate student splashed a triple out of a time out, then hit two more in a row to awaken the 2,523 fans in attendance for Senior Day and extend the Eagle advantage back to double digits. The shots proved — as his coach described them — to be daggers. The Panthers never drew closer than six after the trio of trifectas.

“They made their run. Basketball’s a game of runs. We came back out knowing that we had to get a couple of buckets and a couple of stops,” said Hale. “Our message (in the time out) was that we were trained for this moment, and let’s go out there and get a win.”

Ferguson and Hale both played before large crowds of family on hand to commemorate the occasion. Ferguson’s contingent wore personalized t-shirts with his number on them, and the support clearly made a difference.

“I didn’t know they were all coming. I thought it was just gonna be 10 or 11, but it was like 20-something people,” said Ferguson. “It was real cool (and) a lot of love. A lot of them didn’t get to see me play the last couple of years, so it was good they got to catch that.”

Along with Hale and Ferguson’s performances, Vaudrin finished with a near-record performance. His 15 helpers finished just two shy of tying the school single-game record, set by Rick Riese against Limestone on February 12, 1981.

“(Vaudrin) was spectacular. His line was ridiculous,” Kelsey said. “He was one bucket and two rebounds from a triple-double. He had 15 assists in a Division I game, which is really hard to do.”

Charles Falden played 14 minutes off the bench, grabbing nine boards and scoring nine points.

Both Wrights tallied 24 apiece for High Point.

Winthrop now receives a first-round bye and will await its quarterfinal opponent in the Hercules Tires Big South Championship. The matchup, game time, and location are expected to be finalized later Saturday evening.

The slight break comes at a much-needed time for Winthrop, but the focus remains the same for Kelsey and the Eagles as it has all year.

“(Our approach in practice) has resulted in two consecutive wins, and hopefully we can carry that momentum into the tournament,” Kelsey said. “All we can worry about is the first four-minute war of the first game on Thursday. I don’t know who it’s gonna be against. I don’t know where it is.

“Just somebody text me when we know where we’re playing and who, and I’ll start getting ready.”

Big South tournament schedule

First round

(10) High Point at (7) USC Upstate, 7 p.m.

(11) Campbell at (6) UNC Asheville, 7 p.m.

(9) Presbyterian College at (8) Charleston Southern, 7 p.m.

All games will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Quarterfinals

(2) Winthrop vs. 7/10 winner, 12 p.m.

(3) Gardner-Webb vs. 6/11 winner,2 p.m.

(1) Radford vs. 8/9 winner, 6 p.m.

(4) Longwood vs. (5) Hampton, 8 p.m.

All games will be played at Radford and broadcast on ESPN3.

Semifinals

TBD vs TBD, 6 p.m.

TBD vs TBD, 8 p.m.

All games will be played at Radford and broadcast on ESPN+.

Championship

TBD vs. TBD, 1 p.m.

Games will be played at highest remaining seed and broadcast on ESPN.

This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 5:00 PM.