Final Stats

Box Score

ROCK HILL - Despite a career-high 20 points by Colton Ray-St Cyr and 19 by redshirt sophomore Jaylen Shaw, Coastal Carolina was unable to overcome Winthrop's second-half offensive onslaught as the Eagles secured a 79-67 home victory Thursday evening.

Winthrop (19-7, 11-4 Big South) was led by Xavier Cooks' 26-point, 10-rebound double-double. Keon Johnson, who entered the contest averaging a Big South-best 20.0 points per night, scored 16, including a 10-of-10 performance at the free-throw line. Jimmy Gavin (11) and Adam Pickett (10) also reached double-figures for the Eagles.

Ray-St Cyr's career-best 20 paced CCU (16-10, 10-6 BSC) as the junior made 6-of-9 field goals and 7-of-7 at the line. Shaw scored 11 of his 19 after the half, making 9-of-17 attempts. Badou Diagne led Coastal with 10 rebounds.

Coastal shot 35.8 percent (24-67), 17.4 percent (4-23) and 78.9 percent (15-19) from the line. Winthrop made 25-of-64 field goals (39.1 percent), 9-of-27 3-pointers (33.3 percent) and all 20 free-throw attempts. The Eagles held a 44-41 rebounding advantage, while Coastal outscored Winthrop 30-26 in the paint and 15-8 off turnovers.

Winthrop stormed to nine-point lead a 46-37 as the Eagles made 6-of-7 seven shots, including a pair of triples by Cooks, in the early stages of the second half. Ray-St Cyr kept Coastal in the game over the next six minutes, putting together a solo 7-3 run, cutting Winthrop's lead to 49-44 with 11:36 to play.

Shaw's dunk at 10:32 cut Winthrop advantage to 51-49, but Coastal would get no closer as the Eagles scored 19 of the game's next 23 points en route to a game-high 17-point lead at 70-53. The 19-4 run a trio of Eagle 3-pointers along with a 6-of-6 effort at free throws.

Coastal closed the game to within nine with three minutes to play, but would get no closer as Winthrop secured the 79-67 win.

Woeful shooting plagued both teams in the opening 10 minutes as the squads combined to make only four of the game's first 23 field goal attempts, and none from 3-point range. The game then turned into a free-throw contest over the next six minutes as a total of 20 free throw were attempted before the four-minute mark of the first half.

A Wilson free-throw line jumper put Coastal up 24-23 at the 4:36 mark, but Winthrop's Duby Okeke countered with a dunk on the other end that sparked a 7-0 run. Cook's drained a three from the left wing and Jimmy Gavin scored inside to cap the run and provide the black-clad Eagles a 30-24 lead with 3:04 to in the half.

Two defensive stops later, Colton Ray-St Cyr broke Coastal's near three-minute scoreless streak with a jumper in the paint. Shaw followed with a floater of his own and Ron Trapps dropped in a NBA-range 3-pointer with five ticks left in the opening half to cap a 7-2 Coastal run and send the Chanticleers into the locker room trailing 32-31.

Coastal Carolina plays its final scheduled game against Charleston Southern as a member of the Big South Conference on Thurs., Feb. 25. The two rivals are set for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the HTC Center.