Winthrop Downs Pfeiffer Men’s Basketball, 134-99

Published 8:33 am Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Winthrop University jumped out to an early 18 -2 lead in the first half and cruised the rest of the way in a 134-99 exhibition win over the Pfeiffer University Falcons at the Winthrop Coliseum on Tuesday night.

The Eagles started the game hot, bolting to the 18-2 lead at the 15:26 mark following a tip-in from Austin Awad. Pfeiffer did trim the Winthrop lead to 20-11 after a Blake Smith three-pointer with 13:48 remaining in the half.

Winthrop steadily built their lead to 31 points to end the half.

The Eagles, picked to finish second in the Division I Big South behind Radford, poured it on in the second half, boosting their lead to as many as 42 points while keeping the Falcons under the 100-point mark for the first time since February 4 of 2017, when the Falcons fell to Piedmont 99-81.

As a team, the Falcons shot 34 percent from the field on a 30-of-89 effort, including a 20-of-60 clip from three-point range. Winthrop finished 46-of-77 (60 percent) and 15-of-34 (44 percent) from beyond the arc. Winthrop was also deadly from the free-throw line, going 27-of-30 (90 percent) while Pfeiffer managed 79 percent on a 19-of-24 performance on foul shots.

Individually, Kyle Riddley finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds while Smith finished with 17. Craig Sabb also had a double-figure outing, finishing with 15 points.

Winthrop had seven players in double-figures with Michael Anumba leading the way with 19 points while teammate Kyle Zunic had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Pfeiffer returns to Merner Gym for a five-game home stand starting Friday against Warren Wilson (3-2). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.