Free Throws Doom Eagles In 63-58 Loss To Niagara In Phoenix Classic

HARTFORD, CT–The final score of Thursday night’s opening game of the fifth annual Phoenix Classic read Niagara 63, Winthrop 58, but the telling numbers came in the free throw column of the box score and play-by-play summary of the final statistics summary.

Winthrop (2-3) will now face the loser of the Central Connecticut vs. Hartford game tonight in the consolation game.

The Eagles went to the free throw line just six times in the game (all in the first half) and converted five shots while Niagara (2-2), the preseason favorite to capture the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, connected on 17 of 26 from the charity stripe. The Eagles didn’t help their cause any by going eight minutes and 41 seconds in the second half without scoring a point as they let a six-point lead disappear.

Despite those two aspects of the game, the Eagles never trailed until Niagara’s Daryl Greene put the Purple Eagles ahead 60-58 on a 10-footer with the shot clock at two seconds and 1:21 left in the game. Greene gave his team a 61-58 lead when he made the first of two free throws with 30 seconds left. Winthrop had two shots at tying the game, but three-point attempts by Pierre Wooten and Tywan Harris wouldn’t go down. Juan Mendez, who led Niagara with 16 points off the bench, put the game out of reach with two seconds remaining when he hit both ends of a two shot foul.

"There are some very down young men in that locker room," said Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall, "but we have an opportunity tomorrow night to come back. That’s the beauty of college basketball. Niagara is certainly a very good team and you have to give them credit for coming back like they did.

"But we had ‘em. We played very, very well especially in the first half, but for some reason the lid that had been on the basket for two-and-a-half games reared its ugly head again and we were not able to make the shots in the second half," he said.

Greg Lewis scored 16 points, including 12 in the second half, to lead three Eagles in double figures. He also led all rebounders in the game with 8. Pierre Wooten scored 11 and Marcus Stewart added 10 for Winthrop. Niagara’s Juan Mendez tied Lewis for game-scoring honors with 16 while Greene had a career-high 15 and James Reaves scored 10.Early on it looked as though Winthrop would win the game going away as the Eagles jumped out to a 22-12 lead in the first 9:29 of the game. Wooten scored nine of Winthrop’s first 22 points. Despite early foul trouble that forced Stewart and Lewis to sit 21 minutes between them in the half, the Eagles went to intermission holding a 40-34 lead. Winthrop had its best shooting performance of the season in the first half as it connected on 15 of 31 field goals, including 5 of 14 from behind the 3-point arc.

The second half was a different story, however, as the Eagles’ shooting cooled off to 33 percent on 9 of 26 field goal attempts and they did not hit a trey in nine attempts. Still, Winthrop had its opportunities to win the game, but the cold spell came back to haunt the Eagles. A basket inside by Stewart off a feed from Wooten gave Winthrop a 50-44 lead with 14:33 left to play. Winthrop did not score again until 5:52 remained in the game when Stewart scored again to regain the lead at 52-50. Lewis scored off a steal 22 seconds later to put the Eagles up by four and his jumper at the 3:54 mark kept Winthrop on top 56-52. Niagara’s Tremaine Darden cut the lead to a single point when he connected on a 3-pointer, but Stewart countered with a basket to give Winthrop a 58-55 lead at the 3:10 mark. Mendez then worked inside for a three-point play to knot the score at 58 with 2:10 left and that set the stage for Greene’s go-ahead basket.