Winthrop proves its elite status in back-to-back championship appearances

 

Winthrop center Logan Duncomb earned Player of the Year honors as the Eagles won 23 games for the second year in a row. (Photo:  Big South Conference)

Follow @sportsmatters

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Winthrop coach Mark Prosser spent Sunday in two places that have become familiar. One is a place he expects to be. The other is one he would rather never visit again.

Prosser’s Eagles entered the season as a largely unknown quantity, having lost a significant portion of their production from the year prior. This lack of knowledge about a lot of the new faces in the Eagle lineup led to a predicted fifth-place finish in the league. Prosser split Coach of the Year plaudits with High Point coach Flynn Clayman and his Eagles won 23 games while reaching the Big South championship game for a rematch with High Point.

Prosser sarcastically commented on the perceived preseason slight – “To finish 13-3 in a league where we were picked fifth – don’t think we forgot that or didn’t know that,” he said Sunday – then opined further on his team and their achievements.

Prosser did so from another familiar – and less desirable – place:  behind the microphone in a press conference while the league champion High Point cut down the nets and got showered with confetti.

“Just knowing what is in the heart of our kids,” Prosser said when explaining the thing that excites him the most about the program’s future. “They’re winners. They were winners before they got here. I think we have a brand of basketball that’s attractive to play in. I think we have a lot to sell in recruiting.”

“We’ve been fortunate to find success. That’s a weird thing to say (while) sitting in this press conference two years in a row and three of the past five, but we know there’s special in this program. There’s special out there for us. Every time you lose one, it just makes you more and more hungry for the next opportunity, and I think that message was passed on to the student-athletes we brought in this year. It will certainly be passed on to the next group of student-athletes we have right now.”

The sadness of the result was obvious – Prosser fought back tears and became audibly choked up at times when answering questions – but the head Eagle shares a distinction with his friend and former boss, Pat Kelsey. Kelsey’s Eagles lost three in a row between 2014-16 before finally breaking through in an epic 2017 tournament victory that spawned a run of three crowns in five seasons.

Prosser has carried Kelsey’s torch after leaving Western Carolina to replace him. His 101 wins in his first five seasons in Rock Hill represent a higher total than Big South legends and league champions Nick McDevitt (Asheville), Cliff Ellis (Coastal Carolina), and – interestingly – Gregg Marshall of his own school. Only Kelsey’s 102 wins eclipse Prosser’s total.

To know the impact Prosser and his staff have had on the program, one simply need ask his stars.

“I love this school so much,” Big South Player of the Year Logan Duncomb said after Sunday’s game. Duncomb had given up on the game before arriving in Rock Hill, and the trip netted him a slew of honors. His coach called his shot before the season, too, saying that Duncomb could be a Player of the Year candidate.

“They’re the school that gave me a chance,” Duncomb continued. “These coaches – they stuck with me and helped me grow a lot as a person and as a player. They filled the team with good players and good guys. It’s just one of the coolest teams I’ve ever been around. Everyone likes each other. Everyone hangs out with each other. Being here at Winthrop has been really special. It’s a different type of basketball that you can’t get anywhere else.”

Guard Kareem Rozier, who transferred from Duquesne before the season, was also vocal about his choice to wear the garnet and gold.

“The first call (when I went in the portal) was here, and I knew right and then that this would be the place I would call home to finish my career in college,” Rozier said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Rozier then turned his words toward Prosser.

“You mean the world to me,” Rozier said. “You gave me an opportunity. You believed in me throughout this whole season, even when I was down. This is a family. I don’t want to ever take off this jersey. That’s how much it means to me to be a Winthrop Eagle.”

Though Prosser understands that there is an expectation to hang banners in the Winthrop Coliseum, he also has a clear grasp on the type of players that should be part of the program. Whether it’s legendary point guard Keon Johnson – who probably left a dent or two in the maple from crashing to the floor while driving to the basket – Duncomb or Rozier, or any of the other stars to help define the Winthrop way, Prosser is not shy about what composes that standard.

“We have a very unique group of kids that are about what it’s supposed to be about,” Prosser said. “They don’t worry about stuff on the outside that doesn’t matter. They sacrifice a lot for each other. They had opportunities throughout the season to second-guess or not buy in, and they never did that. What they did was unique and special, because a lot of times, that’s not what teams and student-athletes do these days. They just kept fighting and being together.”

“It’s hard to (reflect on the group’s legacy) at the moment. We’ve had a lot of really special kids. We have a staff that’s been together for a really long time. We have similar morals and things that we feel are important. We spend a lot of time in the identification process being meticulous and intentional about who we bring into our program. As people, we hit it out of the park this year. It’s hard with the transfer portal, where (the recruiting process) is like speed dating. You get to know somebody really quickly and see where it can go. They’re special kids, and that says much more about them than it does about us.”

The Eagles now turn their sights toward replacing ten seniors from this roster. We don’t yet know the names that will appear on the back of the jerseys, but we know the standard they will be expected to uphold. That standard is obvious in the words Prosser uses to describe Duncomb, who played in all three games of the conference tournament after a foot injury that required constant icing and a scooter.

“He’s a warrior, and we have a locker room full of them,” Prosser said. “Doing unique things takes special people. His story is an unbelievable one that should be celebrated for many more reasons than that alone. He’s a special human being, and so is (Rozier). So are the other 13 that are in the locker room right now.”

Duncomb and Winthrop defy the odds in quarterfinal victory

 

Winthrop center Logan Duncomb booked another double-double in Friday's quarterfinal win. (Photo:  Big South Conference)

Follow @sportsmatters

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The comparison in the press room was made to Wilt Chamberlain. Given the circumstances, maybe a Willis Reed mention would be more apt.

Either way, Winthrop center and Big South Player of the Year Logan Duncomb powered through the pain of a foot injury and almost seemingly carried his team to victory.

Winthrop will again make it to semifinal Saturday in Johnson City, and the 20-point, 11-rebound performance from Duncomb – in 16 minutes! – will go down as one of the most memorable performances in this tournament’s history, especially given that the last time anyone saw the Eagles less than a week ago, Duncomb was in a boot and pushing himself along on a scooter.

“I definitely wanted to come back,” Duncomb said. “I’ve been waiting – I took a shot today to try to get through it. I really wanted to get out here and have a good finish to the season. I don’t think it would be really complete unless we made it to March Madness, because we missed out on it last year. I was there in the championship game, and that really, really sucked. It really wouldn’t be finished for me unless we get to the tournament.”

Duncomb’s story is well-chronicled and almost missed anything even close to this type of ending. The former Indiana and Xavier big man walked away from the game after his stint with the Musketeers before landing in Rock Hill. The stopover in the Palmetto State led to a final season in which Duncomb logged 13 double-doubles – including Friday – and was the runaway pick for the best player in the Big South.

“I think I’ve grown a lot since my time at Xavier. That was a challenging time for me,” Duncomb said. “I used that time (after the departure) to grow as a person and as a basketball player, and to figure myself out. During that time, I just really, truly fell in love with the game. I wanted nothing more than to be playing basketball. When I looked out there and saw we were down, I was just like, ‘I can’t go out like that.’ It just would have killed me.”

Nobody understands the – let’s just call it a renaissance – of the Eagle big man better than his coach, Mark Prosser.

“What Logan is doing is unique,” Prosser said. “With the future he has, our student-athletes’ health and future will always be at the forefront of everything we do. I think it would be easy not to do what he just did, and nobody would blame him for it. Being a part of his career – he’s done this. We’ve been a satellite part of his couple years at Winthrop, and it’s what we want for our student-athletes.”

“We have this thing, if you come to our arena, that right by the locker room, it says ‘Culture of Joy’ and – you know, it sounds great. Sometimes it’s difficult. We want our kids to find the joy of playing the game and play because they love it. What he’s doing is special, and we have a lot of guys that have – whether it’s a special thing they’re doing right now or had a very special journey to this point to get together, where they’re fighting, clawing, and playing for one another – it’s just unique. They’re taking us on an unbelievable ride, and we’d like to keep it going for a little while.”

Seventh-seeded Charleston Southern was ready for Duncomb, both out of familiarity and respect. The Bucs and Eagles faced off just eight days ago in North Charleston, in the game in which Duncomb got hurt.

“Our game plan stayed the same,” Charleston Southern coach Saah Nimley said. “We had a game plan for when he was on the court and a game plan for when he was off the court. We just stuck true to that today. He’s a good player. He’s hard to deal with in the middle of the floor, because you can’t send a double-team.”

“He was able to get some things. They posted him up in the middle over and over because they knew we were going to bring that double. Good coaching by them and a really good player. I thought we executed (the plan) great, to be honest with you. They shot 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from three. I thought we had a heck of a game defensively, but they got 15 offensive rebounds and shot 30 free throws.”

Duncomb’s resilience embodies that of his program. The Eagles trailed by seven points late in the contest and closed on a 12-0 run over the final 28 seconds of the game to get the 86-81 win.

“That’s something we’ve been doing all year,” Duncomb said. “This team has just done a great job of not blinking when adversity hits. When a team goes on a run, we just hit them right back. I feel like no one on our team ever gets worried. No one ever gets nervous, thinking that we’re out of it. It’s just tunnel vision. Personally, I was never worried for our team, just because I know that’s what we do.”

Prosser immediately offered a joking retort.

“I was kind of worried there for a little while,” Prosser said with a laugh.

Now that the Eagles can take a bit of a breath, they can get back to whatever Saturday brings.

“At Winthrop, you expect to keep playing,” Prosser said. “You come up here expecting to play three games in three days. We have several that were in that locker room last year, and obviously, the final locker room was not something we enjoyed very much.”

The Eagles will await either third-seeded Radford or sixth-seeded Presbyterian in a 2:30 (Eastern) start Saturday afternoon. Winthrop – and its star – expect number 51 to be out there in a white jersey.

“I’m going to rest and ice (my foot) and do whatever my trainer tells me,” Duncomb said. “I can’t get injured more. It’s just whether I can play through the pain.”

Winthrop turns away Presbyterian on Senior Day despite Duncomb's absence

Winthrop honored its senior class before Saturday's win against Presbyterian at Winthrop Coliseum.  (Photo:  Brian Wilmer/Daly Dose of Hoops)

 

Follow @sportsmatters

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Though he was part of Winthrop’s Senior Day festivities, all eyes in Winthrop Coliseum were immediately on Logan Duncomb Saturday afternoon.

After Duncomb suffered an injury Thursday night at Charleston Southern, Eagle faithful were hopeful that he had avoided the worst. Duncomb, a Big South Player of the Year candidate, used the help of a mobility scooter to get onto the court to be honored as part of the festivities and wore a boot on his left foot.

Duncomb did not play, but a trio of his senior teammates filled the void.

Senior guards Kareem Rozier, Kody Clouet, and Daylen Berry combined for 47 points, while another senior, Ed Nnamoko, scored six points and grabbed four boards in a 74-70 Winthrop victory over Presbyterian before an announced crowd of 2,403.

“It’s atypical for kids – for people – in adversity throughout the course of the year to stick together,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said. “It’s easy to look around. It’s easy to see what’s next. It’s easy to think, ‘Woe is me.’  They don’t.”

“Adversity strikes and they just keep going. It had to be a quick turnaround. We had to figure out a way to try to produce what we were not going to have today. They came in with a great attitude. This isn’t work. Being around these kids every day is fun.”

While the Winthrop team may be fun, trying to shake off a tough Presbyterian team absolutely was not.

Winthrop (21-10, 13-3 Big South) broke the seal on what would become an 11-minute tug-of-war. Berry scored six of the game’s first eight points, but neither the Eagles nor Blue Hose could create separation beyond a three-point lead on either side. Clouet splashed back-to-back triples in a 40-second span to swell the lead back to seven and spark a 15-4 run that put Winthrop ahead, 32-20 at the 6:00 mark of the first half.

Presbyterian (14-17, 7-9 Big South) gradually began whittling away at the deficit, using a 12-5 run to cut it to 37-32 late in the first half. Forwards Jonah Pierce and Triston Wilson keyed the burst, tallying nine of the 12 points. Clouet knocked down two free throws late in the period to give Winthrop a 39-32 halftime advantage.

“The story of the game for us was really the start and the first half, I thought,” Presbyterian coach Quinton Ferrell said after the game. “The way we guarded in the second half was – outside of fouling – they couldn’t score in the half court against us. I think we held them to 32 percent in the second half.”

To Ferrell’s point, the Eagles hit just eight second-half shots in 25 tries. Three of those came in the first seven minutes of the frame, as Presbyterian notched another 12-5 spurt that leveled the contest at 44 with 13:37 to play. The game remained within a single possession for almost the final 13 minutes, as the sides continually traded punches.

After Winthrop snatched a 69-66 lead on a Nnamoko dunk with 2:55 remaining, Presbyterian got a pair of Carl Parrish free throws and a Jonah Pierce bucket to secure a 70-69 lead with just inside of two minutes to play. Pierce then drew his fifth foul seven seconds later, which left the Blue Hose without their two starting forwards after Jaylen Peterson had fouled out earlier.

After Berry made two free throws to give Winthrop a 71-70 lead, Presbyterian missed a three-point try on the other end. The Eagles then found Clouet on the other end, who knifed through traffic and made it 73-70 with 1:08 to play. Clouet then snatched one of his 11 rebounds on a missed Blue Hose layup, then took off toward the other end. Winthrop went for a layup on the other end, but Chidi Chiakwelu turned away the try.

This left Presbyterian with one last look to try to cut the Winthrop margin. The Parrish layup try spun off, however, and the Blue Hose were forced to foul Berry. Berry made one of two, which provided the final margin.

“On that last possession, we had one timeout left,” Ferrell said. “Carl Parrish had the ball and the defense wasn’t set. We were trying to get a quick two -- because we had enough time -- and play the foul game with one timeout. I didn’t want to call the timeout, because I was going to draw something up for him anyway, and he had the ball in his hands. He ended up getting into the paint, he drew the defender up into the air and just didn’t get the benefit of the call, and it just rimmed out.”

Clouet led the convocation of Eagles in Duncomb’s absence, recording a double-double on the day. Clouet scored 19 and boarded 11 misses – all defensive – to guide the Eagle effort.

“You have to be about the right things. You have to care about a common goal and winning. Kody’s that way, as well – just like everybody else in the locker room,” Prosser said. “I don’t think he cares about stats. I just think he wants to win. They’re all like that. He’s a terrific player. I wish he’d come a couple years ago when we recruited him the first time, but I’m glad to have him now.”

“It was a hard-fought game out there, but we pulled it out yet again,” Clouet said. “We’re just so together. I don’t think I’ve been a part of a team that – 10 seniors coming in, we only had five guys returning from last year – we’ve gelled from the beginning. We’re just all playing for each other and not for anything else other than that. We lost Logan. That’s a killer. It’s just about next man up.”

Rozier and Berry joined Clouet in double figures. The tandem scored 15 and 13, respectively. Nnamoko and Tai Hamilton combined for 10 points and nine boards in the post in Duncomb’s absence. Winthrop shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) from the deck, with 30.8 percent (8-for-26) of their tries from three-point range finding the net. The Eagles hit 24-of-33 (72.7 percent) from the line.

Pierce logged his 16th double-double of the campaign, scoring 20 points and snatching 10 caroms before fouling out. Parrish finished one board shy of a double-double of his own, scoring 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 9-of-9 from the line. Wilson booked 12 on 5-of-13 shooting. The Blue Hose shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field despite hitting just one three in 13 tries (7.7 percent). Presbyterian sank 70.4 percent (19-of-27) from the free throw line, including 12-of-15 (80 percent) in the second half.

Both teams will open play in the Big South tournament in Johnson City, Tenn., on Friday. The second-seeded Eagles have a 2:30 (Eastern) tip against seventh-seeded Charleston Southern. Presbyterian finished with the sixth seed and will open with third-seeded Radford. Game time is set for 8:30 Friday night. ESPN+ will handle the streaming coverage.

WINTHROP 74, PRESBYTERIAN 70

PRESBYTERIAN (14-17, 7-9 BIG SOUTH)

Pickett 1-7 0-0 3, Wilson 5-13 2-3 12, Parrish 5-9 9-9 19, Pierce 9-15 2-7 20, Peterson 4-6 0-1 8, Hudson 0-0 0-0 0, Bowden 0-2 6-7 6, Chiakwelu 1-1 0-0 2, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 19-27 70.

WINTHROP (21-10, 13-3)

Wilson 0-1 1-2 1, Rozier 5-16 3-3 15, Berry 2-6 9-13 13, Clouet 4-10 8-10 19, Nnamoko 3-6 0-0 6, Meo 2-6 2-2 7, Boyogueno 0-0 0-0 0, Kamarad 2-4 0-1 6, Hamilton 2-5 0-0 4, Hendawy 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 21-57 24-33 74.

Halftime:  Winthrop 39-32. 3-Point goals:  Winthrop 8-26 (Rozier 2-8, Berry 0-1, Clouet 3-9, Meo 1-2, Kamarad 2-4, Hendawy 0-2), Presbyterian 1-13 (Pickett 1-7, Wilson 0-3, Parrish 0-1, Bowden 0-1, Anderson 0-1). Fouled out:  Pierce (PC), Peterson (PC).  Rebounds:  Presbyterian 39 (Pierce 10), Winthrop 36 (Clouet 11). Total fouls:  Presbyterian 28, Winthrop 21. Technicals:  NA.

 

 

Winthrop outlasts Upstate in Thursday Big South battle

 

Winthrop center Logan Duncomb booked a 24-point, 16-board double-double in a Thursday win over Upstate.  (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics)

Follow @sportsmatters

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Big South has discovered in 2025-26 that there isn’t much Logan Duncomb can’t do.

The likely Player of the Year in the league, Duncomb has logged double-figure games with double-doubles. He is nearing the Winthrop season records for free throws attempted and made.

Thursday night, he proved himself capable of being a decent analyst, as well.

“It was physical, but you’ve got to expect that,” Duncomb said. “I thought we knew coming in that they were going to be physical, and I thought we didn’t respond the best way. I’m not sure what we did wrong. I’d have to go watch the film and watch the game back, but it just wasn’t clicking.”

“That was the wrong response for today, before High Point (Saturday afternoon).”

Following a 71-50 Winthrop decision in Spartanburg earlier this season in which the Eagles controlled the game almost the entire way, USC Upstate came to the Winthrop Coliseum Thursday and – even on a night when the Spartans did not shoot their best or play their best – almost escaped with a win in a hostile environment.

When the horn sounded, Winthrop escaped with a 68-64 win.

You know what happened – now, let’s go…Inside the Numbers!

• Duncomb recorded his 11th double-double on the season, scoring 24 points and hauling in 16 boards. The Cincinnati native was the focus of much of the post-game review – on both sides. Duncomb himself also offered a bit more analysis.

“I love when our guys do well. I love when our guys get going,” Duncomb said. “I just wish we had gotten a little more energy from the start. I mean, we got the (win), so we figured it out, but it was like we were trying to lose it there at the end.”

“Logan got us. He got us down low a little bit,” Upstate coach Marty Richter said. “He got us on the offensive rebounds. I think he had 12 of their 21 second-chance points. All of his offensive rebounds turned into points for himself. He got 12 on post-ups on (us). You can live with that.”

“He’s a really good player. I mean, he hit 24 and 16 – he’s a really good player. A lot of people are undisciplined, and we had some undisciplined plays where we swiped him down. If you stay vertical and make him go over you on those, your chances (of stopping him) go up.”

• Upstate limited Winthrop from the perimeter Thursday, holding the Eagles to just 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) from beyond the arc. The Eagles got four of those triples from Kody Clouet. Richter was mostly happy with how the Spartans ran the Eagle shooters off their lines.

“I thought we got good sticks,” Richter said. “We missed Clouet four times in the first half, which hurt us. (There were) four times where we stuck short. We had a short stick in the first half --  four of them on him, and we had one in the second half on (guard Daylen) Berry. (Forward) Breylin (Garcia) had a short stick on him, and they punished us with those five. Five of those threes were just on short sticks, and you've got to get to the body on the sticks.”

• Upstate struggled from the field (34.5 percent) and deep (22.6 percent) Thursday. Richter was upset with the result but was not at all unhappy with the shot selection from his Spartans.

“I thought they were really good shots,” Richter said of his team’s shooting. “The way they play defense, they’re hard raking in the nail. Now you’re kicking it to open guys.”

“If (guard) Karmani Gregory goes 3-of-11 and gets 11 threes like that up again, he’s going to go 6-of-11 the next time you play him. Then, (guard) Carmelo (Adkins) goes 3-of-13. If he gets those 13 looks again, he’s going to make them. There was a stretch where we were down 55-50 and Karmani had one that just missed. Great look. Then the next possession, it was Carmelo – or vice versa. We missed back-to-back. That’s part of it. I liked our looks tonight.”

• Richter saw a significant difference from the first game in Spartanburg in terms of the effort he got from his team.

“The difference is we competed,” Richter said. "In Spartanburg, we only competed for 20 minutes. Tonight we played hard enough. We didn't play smart enough all game long, but we played hard enough. It's an old saying -- you've got to play together, you've got to play smart, and you've got to play hard. We played together. We played hard, but we didn't play smart for the 40. We played smart for about probably 25 minutes of the game, and (the other) 15 of them -- against a good team like them, they beat you.”

The Spartans forced 14 Winthrop miscues, just one below its season-high. The Spartans were largely unable to make the Eagles pay for those turnovers, however, turning them into just nine points.

“I thought we did some really good things tonight,” Richter said. “I thought we did some bad things. That’s college basketball – you’re going to make mistakes. I thought what they did better than us tonight is when it came to – that ball was right there and you and I had to make a decision. Who’s going to get their nose dirty first? They got their nose dirty first.”

“I (also) think there were six or eight points in free throw blockouts at the beginning of the (second) half where we didn’t finish the play and they got buckets. Those two things changed the outcome of the game.”

• The Spartans had a late look to tie the game. Upstate trailed by three with 16 seconds remaining, then forced a turnover on an errant Winthrop pass. Adkins worked out of traffic and found Gregory with a pass, setting him up for a wide-open three directly in front of the Upstate bench. The try harmlessly spun away, though, allowing Winthrop to seal the game with a free throw.

“I thought it was in. It hit the back of the rim,” Richter said. “If you take 100 of those shots and it hit like that, you're like, oh, that's going in. We just did our normal press that we do, and we got a steal. They were looking to think we were going to foul right away. They were playing for the foul, and we were playing for the trap first and then get a foul, and they threw it to us.”

“That's part of it. Sometimes you make them, sometimes you miss them. That's the difference between winning and losing.”

• Richter was optimistic about what his team could do if it stays consistent.

“I was really encouraged by -- if they play as hard Saturday as they did today, we're going to have a chance to win. If you play that hard again on Thursday, you're going to have a chance to win. We could get to six wins in conference, which is a really good feat for our program where we're at right now. Then you may be the seven (seed), you may be the six, you may be the five. You know how this league is. Everybody's kind of bunched up.”

“We closed the game out on a 12-3 run. We're getting better because when we're in these games -- we were 5-2 coming into today. The last one against Longwood, we didn't close it. We just missed free throws. If we make our free throws, we're 6-1 in those one-possession games. I think we have gotten better. This is how we’ve played most of the year right here. If we can keep playing this way, we'll keep making teams have to play really well to beat us. If we do that, then anything's possible.”

• Winthrop coach Mark Prosser is now tied with former Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach, Liberty coach Ritchie McKay, former Asheville and current Middle Tennessee coach Nick McDevitt, former Longwood coach Griff Aldrich, and Asheville coach Mike Morrell for sixth all-time with three 20-win seasons. Former Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall has the most 20-win seasons for a Big South coach with six.

“In every one of those games, I didn’t make any baskets. I got no stops. I got no rebounds,” Prosser said. “We’ve had a string of really good players and really good people. They take a lot of pride in representing the institution and representing this area. That stuff is great – and I love it – but I’ve had very little to do with any of that stuff.”

Duncomb’s 24 led Winthrop and all scorers. The senior center hit 8-of-14 from the deck and 8-of-10 from the line to go along with his 16 boards. Clouet added 17 on 5-of-13 from the field (4-of-10 from distance) and 3-of-4 from the line. The Eagles shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field, 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from distance, and 60 percent (15-of-25) from the line.

Adkins booked 21 for the Spartans, hitting 7-of-19 from the field and 3-of-13 from the perimeter to go along with four free throws in four tries. Gregory added 18 on 5-of-18 shooting (3-for-11 from deep) and 5-for-6 from the line. The Spartans shot 34.5 percent (20-for-58) from the field, with 22.6 percent (7-of-31) falling from three. Upstate hit 17-of-22 free throws (77.3 percent).

Next up:  Winthrop hits the road Saturday to take on conference co-leader High Point at the Qubein Center. If Winthrop wins the game, they will take the season sweep of the Panthers and have a magic number of one to win the league. If High Point wins, Winthrop needs to win out, have a High Point loss to Presbyterian, and have Presbyterian finish ahead of Longwood in the conference standings. Tip time from High Point is set for 4:00 (Eastern), with coverage over ESPN+.

Upstate returns to the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C., to take on Presbyterian Saturday afternoon. Game time between the Spartans and Blue Hose is set for 4:30, with ESPN+ handling the streaming.

Hustle Stats:

Points off turnovers:  Winthrop 14, Upstate 9

Points in the paint:  Winthrop 32, Upstate 24

Second-chance points:  Winthrop 21, Upstate 10

Fast-break points:  Upstate 5, Winthrop 1

Bench points:  Winthrop 9, Upstate 8

WINTHROP 68, UPSTATE 64

UPSTATE (11-17, 3-10 BIG SOUTH)

Martinez 1-2 4-4 6, Gregory 5-18 5-6 18, Skinner 1-5 0-0 2, Adkins 7-19 4-4 21, Bendinger 3-10 2-4 9, Collier 0-0 0-0 0, Garcia 3-4 1-2 7, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 20-58 17-22 64.

WINTHROP (20-8, 12-1)

Kamarad 2-5 1-2 5, Duncomb 8-14 8-10 24, Wilson 2-5 0-0 5, Rozier 3-6 2-5 8, Clouet 5-13 3-4 17, Berry 1-5 1-3 4, Hendawy 1-2 0-1 3, Nnamoko 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 15-25 68.

Halftime:  Winthrop 30-27. 3-Point goals:  Winthrop 7-23 (Kamarad 0-2, Wilson 1-2, Rozier 0-3, Clouet 4-10, Berry 1-3, Hendawy 1-2, Meo 0-1), Upstate 7-31 (Gregory 3-11, Skinner 0-4, Adkins 3-13, Bendinger 1-3). Fouled out:  NA.  Rebounds:  Winthrop 45 (Duncomb 13), Upstate 33 (Garcia 7). Total fouls:  Upstate 23, Winthrop 16. Technicals:  NA.

 

Winthrop runs win streak to 10 with physical victory over Longwood

 

Winthrop guard Kody Clouet finished with 14, including the eventual game-winning shot against Longwood Saturday.  (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics)

Follow @sportsmatters

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Winthrop-Longwood rivalry is one of the best – if not the best – in the Big South. The Eagles and Lancers have seemingly taken up permanent residence as Big South contenders, and most games between them are hard-fought affairs that defy words.

Perhaps we’ll use Winthrop assistant Sid Crist’s word for Saturday’s tilt:  “Donnybrook.”

However you classify it, the Lancers and Eagles partook in another 15-round heavyweight bout Saturday, with the Eagles landing the final blow. Winthrop sent an announced crowd of 2,041 happy with a 79-74 decision in a game marred – or enhanced, depending on your perspective – by fouls. The win marked the tenth in a row by the Eagles, who have still not lost a game in 2026.

“It’s hard – that game (Longwood defeated Winthrop at the Joan Perry Brock Center to start conference play) was so long ago. We’re both totally different teams,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said after the game. “I’m not very smart, so I can only operate in the moment.”

“Our kids don’t blink. They didn’t blink again (today).”

Winthrop (18-8, 10-1 Big South) surged out of the gate with back-to-back buckets from Tommy Kamarad, giving the Eagles an early lead they would hold for the first six minutes. Longwood (13-13, 5-6) clawed its way back, earning a 7-6 lead on a Fats Billups jumper at the 13:58 mark. Winthrop clutched back the advantage two minutes later but could not separate by any greater than two possessions.

The Lancers had whittled the deficit to one at the 4:15 mark, but a dust-up at the free throw line resulted in a potentially game-changing call. Billups, who had been whistled for a technical earlier in the game, was assessed a second technical following the interaction with Winthrop’s Kody Clouet. Billups was ejected from the game due to the pair of technicals.

“(On) the second one, Clouet bumped him and he bumped him back with a forearm, so it should have been a double technical. The first one is the one I probably have a bit more of an issue with,” Longwood coach Ronnie Thomas said after the game. Thomas was told that Billups had said an expletive out loud – not toward an official, but randomly – which led to the first technical.

“That was just a little frustrating that early in the game, and that’s just  – it’s hard to stomach. I think you can just talk to the young man. He could have just talked to him. We lose Fats, who was 2-for-4 in the first half and playing well. A guy like Fats, he thrives in a game like this. To have him – again, we lose him off the first call – that’s just a really, really bad call by (referee) Bobby (Lineberger). It was an awful call for him to make that call. With the type of game it became and the type of game this always is – that was a really early tech, and that affected the game.”

Following Billups’ departure, Winthrop threw a figurative haymaker, going on a 7-0 burst that gave the Eagles their biggest first-half advantage. Longwood punched back, using a 7-0 run of its own to again knife it to one before Winthrop took a three-point halftime lead off two Logan Duncomb free throws.

The Lancers snagged a four-point lead on the strength of a 9-0 run to start the second half, only for Winthrop to answer right back and go back ahead on a pair of triples from Josh Meo and Kody Clouet. The slugfest continued through the second half, with neither side able to lead by greater than four over much of the remainder of the game.

The lead seemingly changed on every possession for much of the final five minutes, as Winthrop countered every Longwood advantage – and vice versa. Four minutes elapsed inside the final five in which neither side led by greater than two. Winthrop then turned to one of its season-long heroes to finally break the tension.

Following an offensive foul assessed to Elijah Tucker – his fifth – on the opposing end, Winthrop allowed as much time to elapse as it could in a tied game at 71. As the clock oozed under a minute, the Eagles sprayed to the corner, where a wide-open Clouet awaited. Clouet locked in his sights and canned the triple, giving the Eagles the lead they would not again surrender.

“I don’t want to get in trouble, but it was kind of like a football game out there,” Clouet said. “It was physical. That’s how they play. We just stuck with it, took punches, took hits, and found a way to win.”

“They got us in the first game of league (play). They set the tone for us. They showed us where we were weak and what we needed to work on. Since then, we’ve responded incredibly. We definitely wanted this one back and we got it, so that was big.”

Winthrop shot 19-for-50 (38 percent) from the deck on the day, managing just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from three. The Eagles matched the percentage from distance they recorded in the first game in Farmville.

“I thought we did really well,” Thomas said when queried about his team’s perimeter defense. “We had a really big mistake. We should have given up a Duncomb dunk. We never wanted to give up that three with Clouet. We’ve got to grow from it.”

The Eagles hit 35-of-40 from the line on the day (87.5 percent), collecting their second-highest free throw attempts number in a game this season behind the 43 they were awarded at North Dakota. The 35 makes were a season-best.

Tommy Kamarad led the Eagles and all scorers with 15, capitalizing off a strong early start. Clouet and Duncomb added 14 apiece, hitting a combined 7-of-10 shots from the field and 11-for-13 from the line. Senior guard Josh Meo tallied 10 off the bench in 21 minutes of reserve duty.

“This is a selfless group,” Prosser said. “They are giving of themselves when it comes to stats. If they were in another program with a different roster, they may be getting more shots, assists, and different things on paper. They don’t really care. They just want to win.”

Longwood dropped 39 percent (23-for-59) from the field, with 6-for-25 (24 percent) of their three-point tries finding the net. The Lancers hit 22-of-35 from the line, with a number of misses late that affected the Lancers’ chances.

“I told them they can blame two people. They can blame themselves and me,” Thomas said. “We’ve got to figure out what we can do better and what we can do individually, and then they can blame me, but that’s it.”

Johan Nziemi led the Lancers with 13 points on 3-for-7 shooting, despite hitting just 6-of-12 from the stripe. Junior guard Jacoi Hutchinson booked 11 on 4-for-11 shooting and 3-for-4 from the line.

Winthrop hits the road Thursday night to take on regional rival Gardner-Webb. Tip time from Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C., is set for 7:00 (Eastern), with coverage streaming on ESPN+. Longwood hosts UNC Asheville in the Joan Perry Brock Center in Farmville, Va., for the league’s ESPNU Wildcard Thursday game. The game is slated for a 7:00 start, with coverage over ESPNU.

WINTHROP 79, LONGWOOD 74

LONGWOOD (13-12, 5-6 BIG SOUTH)

Nziemi 3-7 6-12 13, Tucker 2-4 3-4 7, Hutchinson 4-11 3-4 11, Richards 1-7 5-6 7, Kelly 3-4 0-1 7, Jones 2-2 1-2 5, Billups 3-5 0-0 8, Benard 3-8 0-0 8, Thompson 2-11 4-6 8, Payne 0-0 0-0 0, Kalala 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 22-35 74.

WINTHROP (18-8, 10-1)

Kamarad 5-10 4-4 15, Duncomb 4-6 6-7 14, Wilson 2-8 5-6 9, Rozier 0-7 8-8 8 Clouet 3-4 5-6 14, Hendawy 0-3 0-0 0, Meo 2-5 4-5 10, Nnamoko 2-2 0-0 4, Boyogueno 1-2 3-4 5, Berry 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 35-40 79.

Halftime:  Winthrop 38-35. 3-Point goals:  Longwood 6-25 (Nziemi 1-1, Hutchinson 0-2, Richards 0-2, Kelly 1-2, Billups 2-4, Benard 2-7, Thompson 0-7), Winthrop 6-28 (Kamarad 1-3, Wilson 0-4, Rozier 0-7, Clouet 3-4, Hendawy 0-2, Meo 2-5, Boyogueno 0-1, Berry 0-2). Fouled out:  Tucker (LU).  Rebounds: Longwood 42 (Richards/Jones 7), Winthrop 35 (Clouet 7). Total fouls:  Longwood 32, Winthrop 27. Technicals:  Billups 2 (LU), Clouet (WU).

 

Winthrop fends off rival Asheville on final possession of Saturday battle

Winthrop guard Kody Clouet led the Eagles with 21 points in Saturday's win at Asheville. (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics)

Follow @sportsmatters

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – There are certain things you can always count on whenever Winthrop and Asheville play each other. Fans who made the trip to Kimmel Arena saw a lot of the constants.

Fouls? Yep. Plenty of those. Emotion? That was there, too.

Drama? It wouldn’t be Asheville-Winthrop without that.

A constant struggle between two undermanned rivals came down to the final possession, as only it could. Asheville had a chance to stun its rival with a last-second knockout, but Kareem Rozier poked away the ball and preserved a 69-67 Winthrop win before an announced crowd of 1,496.

“I don’t remember a game that we’ve played against each other that’s been so low-scoring in a really long time,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said after the game. “They did a good job of making a very tight, crowded floor and being physical with (center) Logan (Duncomb). I thought that points were at a premium. I thought our defense was locked in. Our attention to detail was good.”

The battle ensued almost from the opening tip. Winthrop (13-8, 5-1 Big South) broke open a game knotted at seven apiece early, using an 11-4 burst to seize a seven-point lead halfway through the first period. Asheville (8-12, 2-4) countered with a 9-2 spurt keyed by a Julian Clarke triple to snip it to 20-18 before Winthrop scored 13 of the next 19 to take a nine-point lead. The Eagles took an eight-point advantage to the interval.

Both teams struggled considerably from the field in the first half. Winthrop hit 8-of-27 tries (29.6 percent) in the period, while Asheville knocked down just 8-of-31 (25.8 percent). Asheville coach Mike Morrell felt the Bulldogs settled for shots more than he would prefer in the period.

“We were poor today in the first half,” Morrell said. “(We settled) a ton. I think that’s going to be the story of the game. I’ve done a really poor job helping (preseason Player of the Year) Toyaz (Solomon) this year. I understand that. He’s (shooting) a career-low from inside the arc. That’s not his fault. That’s my fault. The floor has been way more packed because of the shooting that we lack at certain spots this year.”

Asheville snipped the deficit to three at 35-32 on a Kam Taylor three that capped an 8-2 run early in the second, then worked it to three again at 41-38 following a Solomon triple. Kody Clouet then bookended a 9-0 Winthrop surge with a pair of trifectas that bumped the Eagle advantage back to 12.  Winthrop stayed ahead by double figures following a Clouet bucket with 6:15 to play, before Asheville countered with another 9-2 burst that cut it to four with 3:37 remaining.

Duncomb pushed the lead back to six with a layup with 1:42 remaining. Asheville’s Justin Wright recorded a steal with the Bulldogs in a full-court press, then cut it to four with a layup with 1:18 to play. Wright converted again with 36 seconds remaining to cut it to 69-67.

Winthrop then attempted to run out the shot clock but was forced to have Josh Meo hoist a three with four seconds remaining that spun off. Daniel Thomas grabbed the rebound, then pushed up the floor for a game-winning attempt. Rozier forced the ball loose, however, and time expired before Asheville could recover and launch an attempt.

The Bulldogs had one timeout remaining but Morrell elected not to use it.

“If we call a timeout there, we’ve got four seconds against a set defense,” Morrell said. “We had five (seconds) when we got it. Justin kind of hesitated a little bit (on the dribble) for whatever reason. I’m not sure why, but I’ve never called a timeout in that situation.”

“I think we (had) a much better chance to score against a broken floor than trying to draw something up and potentially have to heave something. Hindsight is 20/20, but I was not going to call timeout.”

Prosser presented his perspective of the final sequence.

“On that last play, Kareem was in his gap and he gets the ball,” Prosser said. “That was a huge – obviously, those are game-winning plays, but it has to be as important in the first five seconds (of the game) as it is in the last five.”

“A million things are going through your head. Should we call timeout when it got late in the clock and we didn’t get what we wanted off the ball screen? We trust these guys to bring us home and to be great in the system, and in that moment, Kareem was great in the system.”

Morrell was happy to have had a chance to win on the final trip but offered a frank assessment of his team.

“We were just not good enough today to beat a good team,” Morrell said. “I thought we made Winthrop play ugly at times, which was our best chance to win this game. With some of the lineups we’re having to play right now, we really don’t have a choice.”

“It’s honestly not how I really love to play. That’s just who we are, with two guys done for the year that are in our top seven. Anytime you have to try to play that way, it probably affects everything. It affects my coaching. I thought that (was) what gave us the best chance to win today. We just didn’t do a good enough job of guarding them without fouling.”

Clouet paced the Eagles with 21, sinking five threes on a 7-of-11 day. The graduate student also hauled in six boards. Duncomb was the only other Eagle in double figures, finishing a board shy of a double-double to go with 17 points. Duncomb made the most of the 12 fouls he drew on the day, canning 11-of-14 from the line.

“We didn’t do well enough,” Morrell said in assessing how his team defended Duncomb. “I don’t know what his stat line was, but he put (freshman forward) Daniel Thomas on the bench (due to fouls), which was our best chance. Logan puts you in a bind with as well as he’s playing, because you don’t want to send him to the line. He’s still a hell of a weapon to have. He’s the Player of the Year in the league, right now.”

“He puts you in a bind because of his physicality. I can see why he’s having the year he is.”

Winthrop shot 34.6 percent from the field (18-for-52) on the afternoon, equaling that percentage in shooting 9-for-26 from three. The Eagles hit 24-of-30 (80 percent) from the line.

Taylor led all scorers for Asheville, booking 26. The sophomore needed 24 shots to reach that total, however, hitting nine. Just two of Taylor’s 10 tries from three found the net. Solomon added 20 points and boarded seven misses, while Wright tallied 14 on 5-of-11 from the field. The Bulldogs hit 72 percent (18-of-25) from the stripe.

Both teams return to play Wednesday night. Asheville heads down the mountain for the latest installment of the I-26 Rivalry against USC Upstate. Game time from the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C., is set for 6:00, with coverage on ESPN+. Winthrop returns home to the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C., to battle Radford. That game is set to tip at 6:30, with ESPN+ also handling that coverage.

WINTHROP 69, ASHEVILLE 67

WINTHROP (13-8, 5-1 BIG SOUTH)

Kamarad 0-3 0-0 0, Duncomb 3-11 11-14 17, Wilson 0-4 3-4 3, Rozier 3-7 0-0 7, Clouet 7-11 2-2 21, Meo 2-5 3-4 9, Nnamoko 2-5 2-2 6, Hendawy 1-4 3-4 6, Boyogueno 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 24-30 69.

ASHEVILLE (8-12, 2-4 BIG SOUTH)

Solomon 6-15 6-7 20, Thomas 0-0 2-2 2, Taylor 9-24 6-11 26, Patrick 0-7 0-0 0, Wright 5-11 4-5 14, Tolentino 1-1 0-0 2, Mayfield 0-3 0-0 0, Hermes 0-0 0-0 0, Clarke 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 22-62 18-25 67.

Halftime:  Winthrop 33-25. 3-Point goals:  Winthrop 9-26 (Kamarad 0-1, Wilson 0-2, Rozier 1-5, Clouet 5-8, Meo 2-4, Nnamoko 0-1, Hendawy 1-3, Boyogueno 0-2), Asheville 5-25 (Solomon 2-6, Taylor 2-10, Patrick 0-5, Wright 0-3, Clarke 1-1). Fouled out:  Wilson (WU), Hendawy (WU).  Rebounds:  Winthrop 42 (Duncomb 9), Asheville 38 (Solomon 7). Total fouls:  Asheville 26, Winthrop 24. Technicals:  NA.

 

 

Winthrop makes statement in home win over High Point

 

Winthrop's Logan Duncomb led all scorers with 28 in Wednesday's win over High Point.  (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics)

Follow @sportsmatters

ROCK HILL, S.C. – There’s an old saying that states that familiarity breeds contempt. If that’s the case, Winthrop fans had to feel quite contemptuous at the half of Wednesday night’s game with High Point.

Much like last year’s Big South championship game, Winthrop led big at the interval. The Eagles led by 24 – only for High Point to break off a 10-0 run to start the second stanza. It felt eerily similar to that game in the mountains just months ago – until it didn’t.

Winthrop righted the ship, punched out of its corner, or whatever sports terminology one prefers. The Eagles never allowed the league leaders any closer than 14 points in those final 20 minutes, getting 45 combined points from Logan Duncomb and Tommy Kamarad in a 92-75 victory before an announced crowd of 1,956 at Winthrop Coliseum.

High Point coach Flynn Clayman had quite a bit to say after the game, but one statement told the story.

“We’ve been cruising for a bruising, so to speak, and we got one today,” Clayman said.

Winthrop (12-8, 4-1 Big South) made a statement early and it grew louder throughout the game. The Eagles trailed, 5-4, after a Terry Anderson three with 17:48 to play. That would be the last time High Point held the lead.

Winthrop went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 11-5. High Point then cut it to three at 17-14 on an Anderson dunk with 11:45 left in the first half. Before anyone knew it, though, Winthrop had burst to a 32-16 lead. It then went to 39-16 following seven straight Duncomb points. High Point (16-4, 4-1) worked its way back inside 20 – cutting it to 19 – but trailed, 53-29, at the half.

“They certainly had a lot more (urgency and effort) than we did – at least in the first half,” Clayman said. “I thought the second half effort – okay, if we’re doing that both halves, we’ll probably have a good game with them. They just – quite frankly, if you go back to the game against Gardner-Webb, we were giving up open shots.”

“I thought they were a together unit that was locked in,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said. “I think that bore itself out in the first couple of (four-minute segments). They shared the basketball. It was just an unbelievable ride that they took us on for the last two hours. It was a lot of fun.”

High Point quickly sliced into the Winthrop advantage as the second period began. The Panthers took two-and-a-half minutes to cut it from 24 to 14, but Prosser elected not to use a stoppage. Instead, the Eagles continued to put foul pressure on the Panthers, hit their free throws, and essentially trade baskets with High Point for much of the second half. A pair of Rob Martin free throws again knifed it to 14 at 57-43, but Kody Clouet sank a three followed by a layup to stretch it back to 19 and largely squelch the Panther threat.

The Panthers got two bright spots off the bench in guard Chase Johnston and forward Josh Ibukunoluwa. Johnston knocked down a trio of triples to keep the Panthers competitive, while Ibukunoluwa hit 2-of-3 shots and hauled in four boards in 13 minutes of reserve duty while High Point battled foul trouble among its post players.

“With Chase, we weren’t shooting the ball well, and Chase has had some injuries, so we’ve gone with some longer, athletic guys,” Clayman said. “That basket was getting real dry. We knew he could knock down shots. I’m proud of Chase. He’s just stayed ready to play.”

“With (Ibukunoluwa), we started to go to some skilled big stuff in the second half, because we were really struggling offensively. That’s probably about as much as we’ve ever struggled offensively. He was kind of filling in with how we were using (forward) Owen (Aquino, who battled fouls).”

High Point shot just 39.3 percent (24-for-61) on the night. The Panthers recorded their third-lowest shooting percentage of the season, behind the 34.7 percent they knocked down in a loss to Appalachian State in December and the 39.1 percent they converted in their most recent game against Charleston Southern.

“This has been a growing problem and we’ve kind of escaped,” Clayman said. “(The Charleston Southern game) was the ultimate escape. We didn’t deserve to win that one. This was about as bad of a night as we’ve had. If we have another night like this, I’ll be very concerned. This group has shown an ability to respond.”

“This is kind of a first for us, quite frankly, to get smacked like that. We’re kind of processing it right now. I think we figured some things out in the second half that will maybe be nice to use the next time we see these guys. (Tonight), they just wanted it more than us.”

“People were making out of it – the opponent, whatever it is – if you compete for championships, you win league home games,” Prosser said. “It was a home league game, and it was the next one on the schedule. That was the goal, and that’s what we did.”

“The teams that win conference regular-season championships are the ones that differentiate themselves by winning on the road. We were able to do that last Saturday. It’s a huge challenge to go do that again (Saturday at Asheville). It’s a great win for us.”

Duncomb led three Eagles in double figures, booking 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The redshirt senior center knocked down 10-of-12 from the line and added six boards. Kamarad hit 5-of-6 to log 17 points and boarded seven misses. Clouet completed the trio of seniors in double figures, scoring 14 on 6-of-12 shooting. Winthrop shot 53.6 percent (30-for-65), adding 10 threes on 26 tries (38.5 percent). The Eagles shot 66.7 percent (22-for-33) from the line.

Anderson notched 17 to lead the Panthers, hitting 7-of-12 from the deck and 2-of-3 from the line. Guard Rob Martin added 14, with half of those points coming from the free throw line. Martin sank 3-of-7 from the field. High Point shot 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) from the field, hitting just 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from three. The three-point output was High Point’s second-lowest of the season, behind only a loss at UAB in which the Panthers shot 17.4 percent. High Point hit 71.4 percent (20-of-28) from the line.

Both teams resume league play Saturday. Winthrop travels to Kimmel Arena in Asheville to take on UNC Asheville. Game time is set for 2:00 (Eastern), with coverage on ESPN+. High Point returns to the Qubein Center in High Point to welcome USC Upstate. ESPN+ will handle the streaming coverage of the 7:00 start.

WINTHROP 92, HIGH POINT 75

HIGH POINT (16-4, 4-1 BIG SOUTH)

Anderson 7-12 2-3 17, Aquino 3-7 3-5 9, Hausen 1-7 2-2 5, Martin 3-7 7-8 14, Washington 2-6 0-0 5, Brady 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 2-3 1-2 5, Martinez 0-7 4-4 4, Johnston 3-6 0-0 9, Ibukunoluwa 2-3 0-0 4, Diallo 1-1 1-4 3, Singare 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 20-28 75.

WINTHROP (12-8, 4-1)

Duncomb 9-13 10-12 28, Wilson 0-1 1-2 1, Rozier 2-7 3-4 9, Berry 3-5 0-1 7, Clouet 5-12 0-2 14, Nnamoko 2-4 3-4 7, Hendawy 3-5 0-0 6, Kamarad 5-6 5-6 17, Meo 1-3 0-0 3, Boyogueno 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 30-56 22-33 92.

Halftime:  Winthrop 53-29. 3-Point goals:  Winthrop 10-26 (Wilson 0-1, Rozier 2-6, Berry 1-3, Clouet 4-9, Hendawy 0-2, Kamarad 2-3, Meo 1-2), High Point 7-30 (Anderson 1-4, Aquino 0-1, Hausen 1-6, Martin 1-3, Washington 1-4, Brady 0-1, Martinez 0-5, Johnston 3-6). Fouled out:  Wilson (WU).  Rebounds:  Winthrop 39 (Kamarad 7)), High Point 35 (Ibukunoluwa 5). Total fouls:  High Point 26, Winthrop 19. Technicals:  NA.

 

Inside the Numbers: Winthrop at USC Upstate

Winthrop guard Kareem Rozier scored 24 to help pace the Eagles in a Saturday win at USC Upstate.  (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics)

Follow @sportsmatters

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Following a knock-down, drag-out battle Winthrop won Wednesday night against Charleston Southern, it may have been easy to wonder what the Eagles’ energy level would be Saturday at USC Upstate. For the first half, at least, there was no reason to worry whatsoever.

Winthrop (11-8, 2-1 Big South) blitzed Upstate with seven first-half threes and got a season-high 24 from senior guard Kareem Rozier, as the Eagles withstood a second-half rally from the Spartans to take a comfortable, 71-50 victory at the G.B. Hodge Center.

You know what happened – now, let’s go…Inside the Numbers!

• The first half told the story of the game, in many respects. Upstate decided to front and double Winthrop’s star senior center Logan Duncomb – more on that in a bit – which freed up the Eagles to knock down shots from the perimeter at a 41.7 percent clip in the opening 20.

Rozier led much of that effort, booking 13 in the opening stanza.

“There’s no question (Rozier played a big role),” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said. “He’s just too good of a player. It was just a matter of time. Whether it was today, Wednesday, Saturday, or whatever it was – it’s imminent. It’s coming.”

“I thought we were a good version of ourselves. We were hard to play against, especially on the defensive end of the floor – certainly in the first half, and a little less so in the second half. I was really pleased with our effort and our carry-over.”

• Conversely, effort was a much more significant struggle for Upstate (8-10, 0-3). Upstate coach Marty Richter implored his players, “GET ON THE FLOOR!,” after one loose ball wound up back in Winthrop’s hands. The effort – particularly on 50-50 balls and rebounds – stuck out to Richter. Winthrop held a 30-11 rebounding advantage at the interval, with the Eagles pulling in as many offensive rebounds as the Spartans had total caroms.

“(The effort gap was) a 19-point difference,” Richter said, regarding the first half Winthrop won, 38-19. “You could see it, then you could feel it. You can’t have that. You can’t have your game dictated on whether you make or miss. That dictates your effort.”

“(Winthrop) played desperate today. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. You’ve got a choice to make when you put your jersey on. You can play really hard and desperate, or you can play cool. We played cool until the second half, when I put in five guys that I thought were going to play hard. Those five guys played hard. You can’t win at college basketball and play cool. You cannot. You see it every night – the cool team gets beat.”

• One of the players Richter cited as playing hard, senior forward Breylin Garcia, had a significant impact on the second half of the game. Garcia was a perfect 7-for-7 off the bench and poured in 16 points to go with his six rebounds before fouling out. Garcia was a plus-10 on the stat sheet, but his intangibles stood out just as much to Richter.

“We have three guys that are energy givers naturally. Two of them are elite at it,” Richter said. “(Junior wing) Learic Davis and Breylin are elite. (Sophomore guard) Chico (Johnson) is an energy giver because he plays hard.”

“What we have to have is total buy-in and total connectivity. Our (playing) hard has to be harder than everybody else’s. We have to shock them with how hard we play, and we didn’t do that until the second half. I was proud of those guys that played in that second half. I was really proud of how hard they played.”

Garcia also stood out to Prosser.

“As (Garcia) continues to get healthy, he becomes even more of a problem,” Prosser said. “He’s missed a little time with injuries, but he’s a very good player and obviously gave them a huge bump today.”

• Duncomb was limited to just eight points against 13 rebounds, as the Spartans chose to put significant effort into denying the post. Teams have largely been left with the choice of denying the post or running Winthrop’s shooters off their line. Richter went into detail about the strategy behind defending the Eagles.

“They hit their threes off pick-and-roll,” Richter said. “I don’t think you have to pick your poison. We were going to trap and we were going to rotate and get to a shooter. (Winthrop senior guard) Isaiah Wilson’s hit four threes on the year. One of them was from 50 feet in the last game. You have to make him make it.”

“He’s a 17 percent three-point shooter. He’s a really good player. Let me say that right now. He has life, energy, and leadership. He does a really good job. You’ve got to help off, though. You’ve got to be able to clog it up, which we did. We made it ugly. It’s a double-whammy, because their guards are really good and their big is really good. You have to be able to keep the ball out of the post, because Logan is so good at getting to his left shoulder. I thought (junior center) Coen (Collier) did a terrific job of guarding him.”

“You have to be able to do both. You have to be able to run them off the line and you have to be able to take their post away. You’re not going to be able to do both every second, but what you can’t have is mistakes – the discipline mistakes of straight-line drives to get them going. I thought their pace and speed at the beginning of the game shocked my guys. By shocking my guys, we were then playing catch-up.”

Prosser noted Duncomb’s effort despite not having as big of a scoring day.

“We’ve always been the same way,” Prosser said. “We’ve always been fortunate to have really good post players, but they were all very unselfish. We feel like when we’re right, you have to pick your poison. If they want to trap the post, you want to make shots. We have guys who can do that. If they’re going to take away the arc, we have guys that can score around the rim. When we’re good, that’s the recipe. When you have a lot of unselfish players not worrying about who gets the credit, you have a chance to do some special things offensively.”

• Richter hinted at potential lineup changes after Saturday’s game.

“We have to do a better job as a program of playing desperate and playing energetic, and I’m going to find guys who are going to do that,” Richter said. “Some guys are going to play. Some guys aren’t. That’s just part of life.”

Rozier led Winthrop and all scorers with 24 on 9-for-15 shooting, including 6-of-9 from distance. Wilson and Kody Clouet added 10 apiece on a combined 7-for-15 from the deck (4-for-11 from three). Winthrop shot 38.7 percent (24-for-62) from the floor, hitting 12-of-31 threes (38.7 percent). The Eagles knocked down 57.9 percent (11-for-18) from the stripe.

Garcia's 16 led Upstate, coming in 19 minutes of reserve duty. Carmelo Adkins added 14 on 4-for-12 shooting and 6-of-6 from the line. The Spartans shot 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from the field, with 18.2 percent (2-for-11) of their threes finding the net. Upstate shot 71.4 percent (10-for-14) from the line.

Next up:  Winthrop returns home to battle league-leader High Point at Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C. Game time Wednesday is set for 6:30 (Eastern), with coverage over ESPN+. Upstate travels to Charleston Southern Wednesday night. Tip time is 7:00, with streaming over ESPN+.

Hustle Stats:

Points off turnovers:  Winthrop 15, Upstate 15

Points in the paint:  Upstate 34, Winthrop 24

Second-chance points:  Winthrop 14, Upstate 10

Fast-break points:  Winthrop 12, Upstate 8

Bench points:  Upstate 39, Winthrop 12

WINTHROP 71, UPSTATE 50

WINTHROP (10-8, 2-1 BIG SOUTH)

Kamarad 3-6 1-2 7, Duncomb 2-6 4-6 8, Wilson 4-6 0-1 10, Rozier 9-15 0-0 24, Clouet 3-9 2-2 10, Berry 0-1 3-4 3, Hendawy 0-8 0-0 0, Meo 2-7 0-2 6, Nnamoko 1-4 1-2 3, Christy 0-0 0-0 0, Harrison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 11-19 71.

UPSTATE (8-10, 0-3)

Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Collier 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 1-6 2-2 4, Gregory 0-7 0-0 0, Bendinger 2-5 0-0 5, Adkins 4-12 6-6 14, Skinner 1-5 0-0 2, Martinez 1-2 0-2 2, Johnson 2-4 0-1 5, Garcia 7-7 2-3 16. Totals 19-55 10-14 50.

Halftime:  Winthrop 38-19. 3-Point goals:  Winthrop 12-31 (Kamarad 0-2, Wilson 2-4, Rozier 6-9, Clouet 2-7, Berry 0-1, Hendawy 0-3, Meo 2-5), Upstate 2-11 (Davis 0-1, Collier 0-1, Smith 0-1, Bendinger 1-2, Adkins 0-4, Skinner 0-1, Johnson 1-1). Fouled out:  Garcia (UPST).  Rebounds:  Winthrop 49 (Duncomb 13), Upstate 31 (Garcia 6). Total fouls:  Upstate 18, Winthrop 15. Technicals:  NA.

 

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)

Follow @sportsmatters

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).