Hartford Breaks 22-Game Losing Streak With 58-55 Win Over Winthrop

HARTFORD, CT–Shooting woes continued for the Winthrop men’s basketball team Friday night as the Hartford Red Hawks ended a 22-game losing streak over the last two seasons with a 58-55 win in the consolation game of the Phoenix Classic.

The loss dropped Winthrop to 2-4 on the year as the Eagles now return home for a Monday night television game against Marshall. Hartford won for the first time in seven starts.

After trailing for nearly the entire first half, Winthrop battled back to take a 31-29 lead with 16:39 left in the game when Josh Grant put back a missed shot, but the Eagles were never able to capitalize as Hartford scored six unanswered points over the next three minutes to claim a 35-31 lead and the Red Hawks never lost the lead again.

Hartford starting point guard Ryan Stys and Mantas Storpirstis kept the Eagles at bay from the free throw line in the final minutes. Stys, who connected on 10 of 13 charity tosses in the game, converted seven of eight Fts in the final six minutes and Storpirstis gave the Red Hawks the 58-55 lead with 15 seconds remaining. Lavar Hemphill’s three-pointer at the buzzer hit the rim as Hartford celebrated its first win in the last 23 games.

A disappointed Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall was pressed to explain how his team performed in the tournament. "This team is not performing to the level of their expectations. It’s something that is difficult to put a finger on, but hopefully we can regroup for our Monday night game and then take some time during the next two weeks to come together as a team and work out whatever problems we are having," he said.

Winthrop entered the game shooting 40 percent from the floor and only 25 percent from behind the three-point line. Against Hartford, the Eagles were even lower as they finished with 36 percent from the field (20-55) and hit just five of 19 tries from 3-point range for 26 percent.

Hartford, meanwhile, was not much better connecting on 38 percent overall from the floor, but the Red Hawks hit 5 of 12 from behind the 3-pt. Line for 42 percent.

Storpirstis led Hartford with 14 points, including a 4 for 6 shooting performance from behind the 3-pt. line. Stys finished with 13 and Josh Odugbela scored 11 and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as the Red Hawks won the battle of the boards 40-32.

Greg Lewis led the Eagles for the second straight night with 16 points while Marcus Stewart added 12 and Tyrone Walker finished with 11.