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)

 

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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.