Duncomb overcomes foul trouble, leads Winthrop past Charleston Southern

Winthrop's Logan Duncomb paced the Eagles with 26 points in Wednesday's win over Charleston Southern.  (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics)

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop and Charleston Southern squared off for 40 minutes on the court Wednesday night at Winthrop Coliseum. They nearly squared off again afterwards.

Cooler heads eventually prevailed, but not before Logan Duncomb scored 26 points and hauled in seven boards, helping Winthrop fend off a tough Charleston Southern team, 81-77, before an announced crowd of just over 1,000 for a Big South tilt.

“That was a battle, man,” Charleston Southern coach Saah Nimley said. “Logan Duncomb is a really good player. He did what really good players do. He carried them to a win. Credit to him, and credit to them for weathering the storm in the first half without him.”

Duncomb collected two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, rendering him a non-factor for much of the first half. Charleston Southern (11-7, 2-1 Big South) took advantage of the Winthrop post’s absence, ripping off a 10-2 burst over a four-minute stretch to take a seven-point lead eight minutes into the period. The Bucs stretched the lead as high as nine at the 7:02 mark following a Brycen Blaine triple to make it 30-21.

Winthrop (10-8, 2-1) weathered the storm and punched back. The Eagles responded to the Blaine three with an 11-0 run of their own, punctuated by a Tommy Kamarad three that induced a Nimley timeout. The lead changed hands twice in the final six seconds of the period, with CSU’s A’Lahn Sumler knocking down a jumper to break a 34-all tie with six seconds remaining and Winthrop’s Isaiah Wilson banking in a 55-footer to put the Eagles ahead, 37-36, at the interval.

“I’m really proud of our guys for finding a way to win the first half with Logan playing such limited minutes,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said. “You’re playing the entire game without a starter that’s been a terrific player for us.”

The single-possession duel persisted through much of the second half. Jesse Hafemeister ripped a right-side triple with 10:59 left that put the visiting Bucs ahead, 57-52. Winthrop leveled it again at 57 with just inside 11 minutes left, only for CSU to use a 7-1 sequence to surge back ahead, 64-58.

The complexion of the game significantly changed around the six-minute mark. CSU center Lase Olalere fouled out with roughly six-and-a-half minutes remaining, followed a half-minute later by starting center Reis Jones. The disqualifications allowed Duncomb to flex his muscle that much more in the paint.

“I do think that if our bigs wouldn't have fouled out, we probably would have had a chance to win that game,” Nimley said. “Again, that’s what (Duncomb) does. He puts foul pressure on you.”

“Once you take the two big bruisers out – both of them are good players,” Duncomb said. “Once you can get them out of the game and they have to go to the younger guys – they just don’t have as much experience, and it’s going to be tough for them.”

Winthrop erased the six-point lead CSU had when Jones fouled out, with Duncomb scoring all six of those points.

“I made my first two shots (of the second half), and my shot felt good,” Duncomb said. “I knew these guys from last year. I knew what I could do. I just wanted that ball in my hand so I could go put it in the basket.”

The one-possession game on either side continued until just inside the one-minute mark.

The Eagles held a shaky 78-75 advantage when Duncomb’s hook shot late in the shot clock missed its mark. Kamarad soared to snatch the rebound, after which Winthrop called a timeout. Prosser excitedly congratulated Kamarad as the team came to the bench.

“Tommy Kamarad had a huge (rebound) at the end of the game,” Prosser said. “That’s a huge play in a one-possession game to get us another possession. Obviously, Logan took it from there when we got the ball back.”

Fourteen seconds later, Duncomb put away the game.

Duncomb tried another hook shot – this one falling – that put the Eagles ahead, 80-75. Sumler made a stepback jumper that cut it to three, but Duncomb sank the decisive free throw. Sumler tried another three that did not fall on the ensuing possession.

“It’s fun to have home games the first time through league play,” Prosser said. “Then you realize you’ve got to go back on the road and go back down to their place. They’re good and obviously talented. That’s going to be a tough one for us.”

There appeared to be words exchanged as the teams shook hands, but the real fireworks took place in the hallway. Players and coaches from both sides yelled back and forth down the hall before the two squads were summoned into their respective locker rooms. Nothing physical took place, but the exchange made an impression on Nimley.

“I’m thankful that in conference play you get to play people twice, because of how they acted and what they said,” Nimley said. “I’ll be very excited to get those guys in Charleston.”

Duncomb led Winthrop and all scorers with 26 on 10-for-15 shooting and 6-for-10 from the line. The Eagle big man also boarded seven misses.  Kareem Rozier and Kody Clouet added 12 apiece, knocking down a combined 6-of-25 from the floor and 10-of-14 from the line. Winthrop shot 39.7 percent (29-of-73) from the field, hitting 18.2 percent (4-for-22) of its three-point tries. The Eagles sank 19-of-31 (61.3 percent) from the stripe.

Sumler paced Charleston Southern with 22, hitting 9-of-15 field goal tries and 3-of-3 from the line. Jones scored 15 and pulled down five boards, knocking down 6-of-9 attempts. Luke Williams contributed 12 on 4-for-11 shooting, while Blaine converted 3-of-15 tries and added 11. CSU shot 40.6 percent (28-for-69) from the field, including 25.8 percent (8-for-31) from distance. The Bucs hit 56.5 percent (13-for-23) of their free throws.

Both sides continue Big South play Saturday. Winthrop travels to the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C., to take on USC Upstate. Game time is set for 2:00 (Eastern), with ESPN+ handling the streaming coverage. Charleston Southern returns home to the Buc Dome to take on defending conference champion High Point. The Bucs and Panthers will also tip at 2:00 on ESPN+.

WINTHROP 81, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 77

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (11-7, 2-1 BIG SOUTH)

Hafemeister 2-7 3-4 8, Jones 6-9 3-7 15, Sumler 9-15 3-3 22, Taylor 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 4-11 1-2 12, Blaine 3-15 3-5 11, Olalere 1-3 0-0 2, N. Brafford 1-2 0-0 3, Franklin 0-1 0-0 0, D. Brafford 2-3 0-2 4. Totals 28-69 13-23 77.

WINTHROP (10-8, 2-1)

Duncomb 10-15 6-10 26, Wilson 2-6 0-0 5, Rozier 4-14 3-7 12, Clouet 2-11 7-7 12, Hendawy 2-6 0-2 4, Nnamoko 1-2 1-1 3, Meo 3-8 0-0 6, Kamarad 3-8 0-0 7, Hamilton 1-1 2-4 4, Boyogueno 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-73 19-31 81.

Halftime:  Winthrop 37-36. 3-Point goals:  Charleston Southern 8-31 (Hafemeister 1-4, Sumler 1-4, Taylor 0-1, Williams 3-8, Blaine 2-10, N. Brafford 1-2, Franklin 0-1, D. Braffod 0-1), Winthrop 4-22 (Duncomb 0-1, Wilson 1-2, Rozier 1-6, Clouet 1-6, Hendawy 0-1, Meo 0-2, Kamarad 1-3, Boyogueno 0-1). Fouled out:  Jones (CSU), Olalere (CSU).  Rebounds:  Winthrop 51 (Clouet 8), Charleston Southern 46 (Williams 8). Total fouls:  Charleston Southern 29, Winthrop 20. Technicals:  Blaine (CSU).