Winthrop Moves Back Into First Place
With 67-54 Win Over UNC Asheville

    ROCK HILL, SC--Winthrop used a 16-5 scoring blitz in the opening nine minutes of the second half and went on to defeat visiting UNC Asheville 67-54 in a battle for first place in the Big South Conference.

    Derrick Knox tied a career-high with 24 points and hit two big 3-pointers that helped send Winthrop to its 18th consecutive Big South home victory. The win puts the conference race into a possible three-way tie among Winthrop, UNCA and Radford, who have lost one BSC game each. Winthrop improves to 5-1 in league play and 10-10 overall while UNCA drops to 5-1 and 11-8.

    A 3-pointer by Knox just before the buzzer ended the first half gave Winthrop a 30-24 halftime lead and his trey to open the second half sent the Eagles on that 16-5 run that gave them control of the game. Winthrop built the lead to 20 at 61-41 with 2:46 left to play on another Knox 3-pointer.

    Winthrop connected on 25 field goals in 50 attempts for 50 percent shooting and its defense held UNCA to 13 of 33 for 39 percent, but the Bulldogs were able to keep the score respectable by converting 25 of 32 free throws while the Eagles were 9 of 13.

    Freshman Tyrone Walker added 11 points while Marcus Stewart scored 10 for Winthrop. UNCA was led by Colin Shaw with 15 while Andre Smith and Brett Carey each scored 11.

    Winthrop’s next game will be Feb. 1 when it travels to Charleston Southern while UNC Asheville hosts Coastal Carolina on Jan. 31.