Gavin pushes Winthrop men past Longwood late
Winthrop’s Jimmy Gavin did his best Stephen Curry impression Thursday night, scoring 25 points to lead the Eagles past Longwood, 88-80.
It wasn’t just Gavin’s scoring haul, but the audacious way he did it. Step-back threes, strong drives into the lane, baby-soft jumpers from the baseline, the fifth-year senior got his points any way possible on a night when the visitors were good enough to win.
“My confidence never wavers,” said Gavin. “The ball found me a couple of times and I was able to knock down shots.”
Gavin hit a 3-pointer on the Eagles’ first possession to set the tone. He had a productive first half, scoring 14 of his 25, while helping Winthrop to a 38-24 lead with about 5 minutes left before the intermission.
The Eagles (17-7, 9-4 Big South) went cold from there, scoring just one field goal in the final 5 minutes, 6 seconds of the first half. That came from Adam Pickett after the Lancers (8-18, 4-9) put together a 13-2 run to cut the Eagles’ lead to 38-37. Pickett reeled in a loose rebound, cruised to the other end of the court, dribbled behind his back to avoid a defender and finished at the rim around another, while drawing a foul. His free throw sent Winthrop to the half with a 42-37 lead.
Zach Price’s strong finish plus the foul gave Winthrop a seven-point cushion (48-41) early in the second half, but the visitors quickly reeled in the Eagles. Darrion Allen heated up in the second half and his 3-pointer tied the game at 55 with 14 minutes to play.
Allen hit several more 3s that tied the game over the next seven or eight minutes; the lead changed hands six times in the second half before Winthrop grabbed it late and didn’t let go.
“To fight back like that and gain the lead late in the second half and not come away with the win is disappointing,” said Longwood coach Jayson Gee, who was upbeat despite the result.
Turning point
Allen – who scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half – splashed in his fifth 3-pointer of the game to give Longwood a 77-76 lead with 3 minutes, 48 seconds left. But Gavin freed himself out of a timeout to hit a 3-pointer, before powering to the baseline for a short jumper and an 81-77 Eagles’ lead.
“The first shot was great execution,” said Gavin. “The biggest thing is we were getting stops and our scores started to matter. Because we were scoring most of the game, but that was the biggest part.”
Longwood’s Lotanna Nwogbo then dropped an easy rebound out of bounds to give the ball back to Winthrop and the Eagles made the visitors pay. On the next possession, Gavin nailed a step-back 3-pointer for an 84-77 lead with 1 minute, 57 seconds remaining. The hosts held on from there.
Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said the thing he was most proud of from the game was “when they took the lead late in the game, we finished with five straight (defensive) stops.”
Critical
Winthrop’s 3-point shooting was voluminous if not efficient. The Eagles hit 16-of-35, one shy of the school single-game record, with Gavin alone burying 7-of-14. Winthrop strung together five straight stops late in the game to make the 3s count even more.
The Eagles also produced one of the season’s best offensive rebounding outing, leading to 13 second chance points in the first half and 19 for the contest.
Star contributors
Gavin was in sharp form, especially late when he took over the game. Cooks pitched in 20, including three 3-pointers and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
Price had one of his best games of the season too, scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and making life generally difficult for Nwogbo, the reigning Big South player of the week. He got involved early, scoring the first time he touched the ball and Kelsey lauded him for setting a substantial screen to free Gavin for a the 3-pointer out of the late timeout.
“I feel like we don’t give him the ball enough,” Cooks said about Price.
“It was one of the best games Zach’s played in a Winthrop uniform,” said Kelsey. “Big kid for Longwood (Nwogbo) is a really good back-to-the-basket player and Zach was able to defend him without fouling.”
And Keon Johnson was only 2-for-11 shooting but got his 10th point late in the contest to stretch his run of double-figure scoring efforts to 28 straight contests.
On deck
Quick turnaround for both teams; Longwood hosts Liberty, while Winthrop heads to Radford on Saturday. The Eagles beat the Highlanders 87-77 in Rock Hill on Jan. 30. Winthrop last swept both games with Radford during the 2011-12 season.
WINTHROP 88, LONGWOOD 80
LONGWOOD (8-18): Lane 6-9 0-0 14, Nwogbo 5-10 4-4 14, White 4-16 8-8 16, Allen 7-12 0-0 19, Obi-Rapu 4-12 3-6 13, Gee 0-0 0-0 0, Belton 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 28-63 15-18 80.
WINTHROP (17-7): Cooks 6-10 5-8 20, Price 4-6 1-4 9, Johnson 2-11 4-4 10, Broman 3-9 0-0 9, Gavin 9-19 0-1 25, Okeke 0-1 1-2 1, Pickett 2-3 1-1 5, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Davenport 3-8 2-2 9. Totals 29-67 14-22 88.
Halftime—Winthrop 42-37. 3-Point Goals—Longwood 9-21 (Allen 5-7, Lane 2-2, Obi-Rapu 2-6, Johnson 0-2, White 0-4), Winthrop 16-35 (Gavin 7-14, Cooks 3-5, Broman 3-7, Johnson 2-6, Davenport 1-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Longwood 39 (Nwogbo 13), Winthrop 41 (Cooks 12). Assists—Longwood 11 (Johnson 6), Winthrop 14 (Gavin, Johnson 4). Total Fouls—Longwood 19, Winthrop 14. A—1,012.
This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Gavin pushes Winthrop men past Longwood late."