The Winthrop Men’s Basketball team is still undefeated. On Jan. 23, the Eagles took down USC Upstate, winning 79-53. Freshman D.J. Burns Jr. was named Player of the Game, having recorded 14 points, 3 rebounds and a 70% field goal percentage.
The USC Upstate game was filled with thrills, fast breaks and cheers. Throughout the first half both teams were neck and neck, going into halftime at a tie. Throughout the second half there were some big plays that helped the Eagles grab hold of the lead and take off. Winning against the Spartans brought the Eagles to a 7-0 record for Big South conference play, and put them at an overall nine game winning streak.
“It’s a great feeling. It really shows how great we can be and how much work we put in through the summer to reach the top,” said sophomore Micheal Anumba.
But not all the Eagles are satisfied.
“It feels great but we haven’t done anything yet. So not satisfied. We have more work to do,” freshman Russell Jones Jr. said.
Redshirt junior Chandler Vaudrin said that being undefeated is “mentally testing.”
Although winning can sometimes come as a burden, winning seems to come naturally for the Eagles, but the team doesn’t think so.
The Eagles are very aware that winning does not come easily, but rather takes a lot of work and they have not let their current winning streak affect this view.
“I wouldn’t say winning comes naturally but we have been locked in on everything, and are playing the right way which leads to winning,” Jones Jr. said.
“We train the same everyday. We treat each opponent with respect,” Vaudrin said.
Winning takes a lot of hard work to continually accomplish game after game.
“Winning never comes naturally. We practice every day the same, on a winning streak or on a losing streak. We approach every game the same way, and we play as hard as we can on every game as if it’s our last,” Anumba said.
What makes the team untouchable, unstoppable and undefeatable, is the constant perseverance the team has. “[Our] togetherness,” Vaudrin said, definitely factors into these accomplishments.
Jones Jr. believes it’s that fact that the team is “a family and we love one another.”
“I feel like our greatest strength is probably our ability to defend and get stops. We keep climbing the national ranks defensively and we really are getting better day after day,” Anumba said.
On Jan. 25, the Eagles faced Presbyterian College and defeated the Blue Hose 72-57. Graduate student Hunter Hale was named Player of the Game, having recorded 19 points, a 54.5% field goal percentage and a 50% three point field goal percentage.
Ahead at halftime by only three points, the men’s basketball team was able to pull ahead significantly in the second half of the game. The Eagles went the last six minutes of the game with the only points being added to the board coming from five made free throws, going scoreless otherwise. Despite these dry last six minutes of the game, the Eagles still were able to pull out a win by 15 points.
The Eagles said they’ve been working on themselves as well as a team to pull out wins like this.
Since the start of the season Jones Jr. says he has improved his “ability to lock in on the small details”
Anumba said that it was, “definitely my three point shot, I’m shooting very well at the moment and my teammates trust me to knock down big shots throughout the game.”
Vaudrin says he’s gotten better at “talking more on defense.”
This game has brought the Eagles to an 8-0 record in conference play and they are now on a 10 game winning streak.
The undefeated Eagles next take on Charleston Southern on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m. at Charleston Southern. Then be sure to cheer on the team in person as they face UNC Asheville on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. in the Winthrop Coliseum.
Photo provided by Winthrop Athletics
