GWU downs Winthrop behind explosive second half

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Gardner-Webb erased a 15-point halftime deficit, outscoring Winthrop, 49-29 in the second 20 minutes to stun the Eagles on Saturday, 79-74, inside a boisterous Paul Porter Arena.

GWU had trouble on the defensive glass to start the contest, as four of Winthrop’s first seven points were of the second chance variety. Julien Soumaoro gave the hosts their first lead of the with a deep three before Caleb Robinson scored on two drives to the bucket, giving the home team a 13-7 lead. 

After a Winthrop timeout, the Eagles responded with a 13-2 run that included a trio of triples to take a 20-15 lead. DQ Nicholas ended the run with a three-point play, but Winthrop hit a fourth straight triple. By the time the Eagles hit another, they led, 30-18, and Robinson had picked up his third foul. The treys kept falling for Winthrop, who built a 38-20 cushion.

Soumaoro hit a three to stop the bleeding for GWU, with Nicholas also making one, but Winthrop stayed hot from behind the arc to lead at halftime, 45-30. 

GWU opened the second half on a 9-2 run thanks to five quick points from Lucas Stieber. By the time Isaiah Richards sank a pair of foul shots, the deficit had shrunk to 49-42. After Winthrop pushed its lead back to double digits, Stieber hit another three to highlight another spurt that saw the Runnin’ Bulldogs pull to within 55-48 with 13:48 left in the game. By the time Buddy Simmons buried a three, GWU was within two possessions with 11:58 left on the clock, trailing 59-55. 

Winthrop kept GWU at bay with four straight points from the charity stripe, but the Runnin’ Bulldogs stayed in contention. A steal and a layup from Robinson and a bucket from Quest Aldridge gave GWU a 69-66 lead with 4:13 left. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way as Nicholas split a pair from the stripe to keep his team in front, 75-72, with 34.3 seconds left. Soumaoro then calmly sank four in a row from the foul line to seal the win. 

Eagles Let Fly From Three: Winthrop shot 9-of-14 from long distance in the first half, with Sin’cere McMahon going 4-for-5 from deep. 

“We identified him as a shooter, but did not do a good job defensively on him in the first half,” GWU head coach Tim Craft said of McMahon. “The other issue was we helped off of two players (Chase Claxton and Kelton Talford) who don’t normally hit threes, but they were 4-for-4 in the first half. That’s 12 points right there and we were down 15. In the second half, we made the adjustment to not sag off of them so much and they did not hit a three in the second half.” 

King Julien: Julien Soumaoro did not have the most points on the night (14). That honor belonged to DQ Nicholas with 16, but Soumaoro ran the point for nearly 38 minutes of game action and salted the game away from the foul line late. 

“Julien had a great day,” Craft said. “He had to step up and play more minutes than he is used to because Caleb Robinson was in foul trouble. He stayed calm and ran the team, and then hit those huge foul shots. We shot well from the line as a team, 72 percent is good for us.” 

Divinely Inspired: At this time last week, GWU was mired in a six-game losing streak and in last place in the Big South Conference. Since then, the Runnin’ Bulldogs have won three straight and are racing up the standings.

Craft says the team has been inspired by the Bible verse Galatians 6:9, which says: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” 

“After we lost to Charleston Southern, we told the team that they we doing good things on the court, that the good times and the harvest would eventually come,” Craft said. “They kept the faith and kept believing in what we are trying to accomplish. Now, they are reaping the benefits.” 

Up Next: GWU (8-12 3-2 Big South) will look to extend its winning streak to four games when it travels to Longwood to face the Lancers on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Winthrop will travel to Charleston Southern the same evening.