Winthrop men stave off Jacksonville State for 3-0 start
Winthrop men’s basketball is 3-0 for the first time since 2008.
The Eagles led nearly the entire game against Jacksonville State Friday night en route to a 80-69 home win. Xavier Cooks led Winthrop with 19 points, and junior Josh Davenport added 12 points and 10 boards - his first career double-double - as the Eagles played much better defense en route to a win.
Coach Pat Kelsey has said since the Big South media gathering in late October that he wasn’t exactly sure how this version of the Eagles would turn out, or how quickly it would coalesce.
“The biggest growth that we showed tonight was that we looked like a Winthrop basketball team on the defensive end,” he said.
Winthrop started quickly, grabbing a 9-2 lead. Fifth-year senior Zach Price came into the game with six points in two games, but the 6-foot-10 post had that many within the first 3 minutes against the Gamecocks, as Winthrop looked to establish him early.
Jacksonville State cut the Eagles’ lead to 17-13, but the Eagles raced away again, Bjorn Broman hitting a deep two then a 3 on a cross-court feed from Jimmy Gavin. Davenport muscled down an offensive rebound, his putback creeping up over the rim and in, while drawing a foul. A Cooks drive for two more gave Winthrop a 29-16 lead and forced a Gamecocks’ timeout with less than 8 minutes remaining in the first.
The Winthrop lead stayed between eight and 11 points for much of the rest of the half. Davenport wriggled free to score on an inbounds play with 3 seconds left to send the Eagles to the changing rooms with a 41-31 advantage. The lead stayed right around there until late in the second half, but Winthrop answered that Gamecocks’ charge too.
Another sizable gathering of students showed up at the Coliseum. Winthrop’s third win to start the season meant a $500 scholarship for another lucky student, with Kelsey and his players doling out the check immediately after the final horn.
Turning point
Winthrop led fairly comfortably for much of the game, but Jacksonville State stayed right on the Eagles’ tails and cut the lead to 68-62 with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left. Cooks grabbed the ball at the top of the arc with the shot clock winding down, and drove into the lane for a left-handed finish and an eight-point cushion. He got the ball on the next possession too, driving into the lane and letting loose a soft jumper that bounced around the rim and in for a 10-point lead.
The Gamecocks again got it down to six with about 2 minutes left, but Duby Okeke tipped in a missed 3 and the Eagles were never threatened from there.
Critical
Winthrop handled Jacksonville State’s press pretty well midway through the second half, as the Gamecocks tried to change the tempo of the game. The Eagles goofed into a few turnovers, not surprising considering they haven’t seen the defense much this season, but they didn’t let the lead slip.
“They were just kicking us on the glass so we thought maybe we could get it into an open court game and have them make some decisions,” said Jacksonville State coach James Green. “In hindsight, which is always better, maybe we would have pressed a lot more.”
Kelsey felt his team “looked” at the press too much, instead of attacking it.
“Never give a team a free press,” said Kelsey, citing his former coach Skip Prosser’s maxim. “We were a little tentative in it and it muddied stuff up.”
Star contributions
Davenport had arguably his best half of basketball in Winthrop’s colors in the first period, contributing on both ends of the court with blocks, steals and offensive rebounds. Friday night’s game was Davenport’s second with double-digit scoring this season after not hitting that threshold all of last season.
“Coach always tells me I’m a real glue guy so my part is to just always fly to the glass, get rebounds and stuff like,” said Davenport. “Second chance opportunities are good for our team.”
Cooks was also excellent, again. In the kind of performance Winthrop players, coaches and fans are coming to expect, the 6-foot-8 Aussie did some of everything. Besides the 19 points, he contributed eight rebounds, a block and a steal. Cooks is averaging 20 points through three games.
“I thought he was the MVP,” said Green. “He’s versatile, does a lot of things, plays with a lot of energy and he’s a matchup problem. He just didn’t settle for the first thing that came along; he attacked and he got what he was comfortable with.”
On deck
Winthrop plays its first road game next Tuesday, Nov. 24, in Spartanburg against USC Upstate. The Eagles and Spartans have each won eight of their 16 all-time meetings.
Box score
WINTHROP 80, JACKSONVILLE ST. 69
JACKSONVILLE ST. (2-3): Townser 5-11 0-0 10, Cunningham 0-0 2-2 2, Hamilton 1-5 1-1 3, Durham 6-14 1-2 15, Drumwright 4-15 2-3 10, Bogan 1-3 0-0 3, Tucker 2-5 0-2 5, Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Ba 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 3-8 6-8 13, Statam 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 25-65 12-18 69.
WINTHROP (3-0): Cooks 8-11 2-3 19, Price 3-5 2-2 8, Johnson 4-11 2-4 12, Broman 2-6 4-4 9, Gavin 5-13 1-4 13, Okeke 2-4 1-2 5, Perkins 1-6 0-0 2, Davenport 5-7 2-3 12. Totals 30-63 14-22 80.
Halftime—Winthrop 41-31. 3-Point Goals—Jacksonville St. 7-23 (Statam 2-3, Durham 2-7, Watson 1-2, Bogan 1-2, Tucker 1-3, Townser 0-2, Drumwright 0-4), Winthrop 6-20 (Gavin 2-6, Johnson 2-6, Cooks 1-2, Broman 1-4, Perkins 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Jacksonville St. 33 (Durham 6), Winthrop 45 (Davenport 10). Assists—Jacksonville St. 9 (Drumwright 6), Winthrop 8 (Broman 3). Total Fouls—Jacksonville St. 19, Winthrop 17. Technicals—Watson, Cooks. A—1,379.
This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Winthrop men stave off Jacksonville State for 3-0 start."