Winthrop Whips Radford 87-65 To Move Into First Place Tie In Big South Conference

ROCK HILL, SC--Winthrop moved back into a tie for first place in the Big South Conference with a convincing 87-65 win over Radford Friday night in a regionally televised game. Derrick Knox tied a career-high with 24 points to lead three Eagles in double figures.

The win improves Winthrop to 8-2 in conference play and 13-11 overall while Radford drops to 8-2 and 14-9. The victory was Winthrop’s 21st consecutive home win over conference opponents and improves the Eagles home record during head coach Gregg Marshall’s tenure to 35-3.

The Eagles forced the Highlanders into 15 first half turnovers enroute to a 39-26 lead at intermission. Knox scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the first half while Marcus Stewart had 10. Stewart finished the game with 17. Also in double figures for Winthrop was Tywan Harris with 10.

Winthrop took a 5-3 lead with 16:39 on the clock on a layup by Stewart and the Eagles never looked back as they outscored Radford 30-11 over the next 12 minutes to take a 35-14 lead. Radford closed to within 12 points at 50-38 on a 3-pointer by Raymond Arrington with 15:02 left in the game. A trey by Knox and a tip-in by Stewart gave Winthrop a 16-point margin at 55-39 with 13:13 to play. Winthrop increased the lead to 26 at 85-59 with 1:36 remaining on a steal and dunk by Tyron Myers.

Winthrop had its best shooting performance of the year connecting on 31 of 54 shots for 57 percent while Radford finished with 39 percent on 19 of 48 shooting. The Eagles also won the rebound battle 34-29 with Knox and Stewart grabbing nine each.

Arrington led four Radford players in double figures with 16. Andrew Savtchenko scored 15 while Jason Williams added 14 and Corey Watkins had 13.