Second half effort again pushes Winthrop to road win

A commanding second half performance saw Winthrop men’s basketball come from behind to beat Gardner-Webb 71-58 Wednesday night in Boiling Springs, N.C.

The win was Pat Kelsey’s first at Paul Porter Arena and Winthrop’s first since 2011. The Eagles (13-6, 5-3 Big South) reeled in the Runnin’ Bulldogs (10-10, 5-3) with the victory, their fourth straight; each has come by a double-digit margin. High Point’s narrow win over UNC Asheville Wednesday night means Gardner-Webb and Winthrop are tied for second in the Big South Conference standings, one game back of league-leading High Point and Asheville (both 6-2).

Defense has sparked the Eagles’ recent win streak and Wednesday night was no different. After a lackluster first half, Winthrop made 19-of-30 shots in the second 20-minute period, while holding Gardner-Webb to 8-of-34 shooting during the same stretch.

Winthrop was fortunate its halftime deficit wasn’t double digits. The Eagles froze up from the field, hitting just 2-of-14 shots during one stretch and going nearly 5 minutes without a bucket. Gardner-Webb took advantage, especially guards Harold McBride and Laquincy Rideau who combined for 17-of-31 the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ first half points. The pair scored inside on Winthrop’s smaller defenders regularly, but it was a deep 3 by Rideau that put the hosts up 31-17 and forced a Winthrop timeout with less than 4 minutes to play in the half.

But Winthrop got its act together and produced an 8-0 run to get within five points, Keon Johnson’s scoop making it 30-25 to the Runnin’ Bulldogs, who stretched the lead to eight before the break.

The late revival was critical for Winthrop, but even it didn’t foretell the Eagles’ dominant second half performance, and a fourth win on the trot.

Turning point

There were a couple of turning points in this game.

Perhaps the biggest came late in the first half when the Eagles trimmed a 14-point Gardner-Webb lead to single digits. The next big one came at the start of the second half when Winthrop grabbed the lead with an 8-0 run. The Runnin’ Bulldogs eventually tied the game at 50 all behind three consecutive 3-pointers from Dylan Poston, but Winthrop erupted again with about 8 minutes left, out-scoring the hosts 21-8 the rest of the way to climb into second place in the Big South.

Critical

Winthrop’s second half sizzling shooting was red-hot for the third straight game. The Eagles shot 69 percent in the second halves of wins over High Point and Liberty last week, and connected on 63 percent of its second half shots Wednesday night.

Also critical: the Eagles kept Gardner-Webb standout Tyrell Nelson quiet. The junior big man came into the game with three straight double-doubles, but Kelsey’s squad limited the All-Conference player to just seven points and eight rebounds. The Eagles also made second half adjustments on McBride and Rideau; neither scored in the second half.

Star contributions

Josh Davenport had another solid game for Winthrop, setting a new career-high with 17 points and punching an exclamation point on his best offensive performance in Eagles’ colors with a late dunk.

Johnson was held without a 3-pointer for only the second time this season, but he was crucial to the Eagles’ second half turnaround. He scored six points during the Eagles’ run that gave them the lead early in the second half, and finished with 17 points. The junior guard has scored in double figures in 23 straight games now.

Gavin struggled a bit with early foul trouble and only mustered nine points but he did produce six assists, most of them coming off successful dribble penetration that led to dunks for Duby Okeke or layups for Zach Price or Xavier Cooks.

Freshman Bjorn Broman was one of a number of solid contributors that didn’t reach double figure scoring; Broman finished with seven points, six rebounds, while Cooks added nine points, five rebounds and four assists.

On deck

Winthrop travels to Farmville, Va., to face Longwood. The Eagles have beaten the Lancers in four straight games. Longwood is 4-3 at home this season, 2-11 on the road.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Second half effort again pushes Winthrop to road win."