Winthrop rallies for 71-63 win over Campbell

@GoCamelsMBB | facebook.com/GoCamelsMBB | Campbell Tickets

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Senior guard Andre Smith scored 18 of his season-high 23 points in the second half to lead Winthrop to 71-63 comeback win over Campbell Saturday at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Smith hit 8-of-13 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line for the Eagles (10-9, 5-3 Big South), who overcame a 13-point Camel first-half deficit to win their second-straight game. Keon Moore added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, who knocked down 24-of-30 free throws, including all 13 attempts in the second half.

Reco McCarter and Andrew Ryan led Campbell (7-14, 1-7) with 14 points, while D.J. Mason added 12, plus six boards and three blocks.

Campbell led by as many as 13 in the opening period and 33-30 at the break. After Mason's 3-point play gave CU a 44-40 edge with 14:09 to go, Smith started a decisive 15-2 burst with a 3-point play. Moore's step-back trey from the left side provided Winthrop with its first lead of the game (46-40) and his corner three gave the Eagles their largest advantage (55-46) with 9:48 to play.

The Camels trailed 60-51 after Moore's fourth three of the contest with 6:34 remaining, but Ryan's 3-pointer brought CU with 62-59 with 2:27 left.

However, Smith answered with a deep triple from the right wing on the next possession and Campbell was unable to get closer than six the rest of the way. Winthrop converted both ends of three 1-and-1 chances in the final 1:10 to avoid a late Camel rally.

Campbell shot 38 percent (21-55) from the field and made 7-of-21 (.333) beyond the arc and 14-of-19 from the stripe (.737). Winthrop made 39 percent (20-51) of its attempts from the field, but made five more from the line (24-30) than the Camels attempted.

The Camels jumped to a 13-2 lead and held a 27-14 edge after Reco McCarter knocked down a triple from the left wing with 7:14 left in the period. CU made 10 of its first 10 shots and 4-of-6 threes, but the CU front line was hit with foul trouble.

With Campbell's leading scorer D.J. Mason, plus McCarter and Curtis Phillips on the bench, Winthrop reeled off a 12-1 run to pull with 28-26 with 1:27 to go. Moore started the burst with a 4-point play and capped it with an old-fashioned 3-point play.

Rod Days' triple from the right corner stopped the Winthrop rally and the Camels led 33-30 at the break. Ryan hit three first-half triples and scored nine points for the Camels, who connected on 5-of-13 treys before the break.

Winthrop shot just 32 percent (8-25) from the field in the first half, but made three more free throws (11-17) than Campbell attempted (6-8) in the opening stanza. Moore had 9 points and 8 rebounds prior to intermission.

The Camels host Gardner-Webb Monday in an 8:00 tip-off that will be televised on the American Sports Network by MASN.

Notes:

Six of Campbell's seven Big South losses have come by a total of 27 points. Overall, 10 of CU's 14 losses have been decided by single digits.
Andrew Ryan moved into 4th place on CU's all-time games played list Saturday (118). Ryan (888) and fellow 5th-year senior Reco McCarter (843) are on pace to become just the 19th and 20th players in CU's Division I era (since '77-78) to reach 900 career points.

Print Friendly Version