Lewis Leads Eagles Over Randolph-Macon

ROCK HILL, SC–Greg Lewis scored 20 points and grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds while Winthrop shot 58 percent from the floor to down Div. III top-ranked Randolph-Macon, 75-69, Tuesday night.

The win improves Winthrop to 5-8 while Randolph-Macon saw its 13-game winning streak halted and drops to 13-2.

With Lewis and Tyrone Walker combining for 22 second half points, the Eagles were able to shake off a strong challenge by the Yellow Jackets. Winthrop led by as many as 12 points at 63-51 with 5:41 left in the game. Randolph-Macon had closed to within two points at 53-51 with 8:03 left, but the Eagles went on a 10-0 run behind a three-pointer by Walker followed by a steal and a dunk by Walker who finished the game with 16 points. For Lewis it was his fourth straight double-double and eighth of the season. Also scoring in double figures for the Eagles were Pierre Wooten and Tywan Harris with 11 each.

The Yellow Jackets who had climbed to No. 1 in the polls earlier in the day refused to fold as they got to within five on a 3-point basket by Jamal Brunt with 17 seconds left to play and a again with five seconds remaining on a layup by Ryan Stein. Stein led four Yellow Jackets in double figures as he scored 18 on 8 of 12 shooting. Jared Mills had 17 while Kurt Bergmann scored 15 and Brunt added 11.

Winthrop turned in its best shooting effort of the season and shot better than 50 percent for the second straight game. The Eagles finished the game with 28 of 48 FG shooting for 58 percent while RMC also shot well on 25 of 48 for 52 percent. With Lewis leading the way on the boards, Winthrop won the rebounding battle 31-16.

Winthrop will travel to Liberty on Saturday to face the Flames in a Big South Conference game. Tipoff is set for 7:30.