The Winthrop men’s basketball team (16-1) lost its first game of the season last week, ending a 21-game win streak that began last season on Feb. 27, 2020. The Eagles won the first game of a back-to-back set against UNC Asheville on Thursday, but on Friday were bested by the Bulldogs.
“We’ll respond the right way,” said Head Coach Pat Kelsey. “You dust yourself off, pick yourself up, and go back to work and we’ll do that. We’ve got a lot of season left [and] some big, big games coming up. My money’s on our guys handling this the right way, using it as a catalyst to even better things.”
Winthrop led for almost the entirety of the first game against its conference opponent, possessing a 17-point advantage with 6:12 left in the second half — enough cushion to carry the team to a win. Still, the score tightened as the Bulldogs hit several unlikely shots and time winded down, leaving the Eagles to escape with a narrow 4-point victory.
The look in the eyes of UNC Asheville’s players portrayed that they really believed they could have pulled off a comeback on Thursday night. The Bulldogs carried that energy into Friday’s contest, making lots of noise on the bench and playing with an undefeated attitude despite having an 8-loss record.
Friday’s contest got off to a slow start with the Eagles trailing 7-6 after four minutes of play. The next five points were scored by Winthrop sophomore Jamal King, but they were matched by four from Asheville’s Evan Clayborne. With 11:56 remaining in the first half, the score was tied 11-11.
As several minutes passed, the back-and-forth trend continued. A 3-pointer for Winthrop’s Kyle Zunic was answered with a 3-pointer from Asheville’s Tajion Jones. A mid-range jumper off the hand of D.J. Burns for the Eagles was immediately evened out by a dunk from Clayborne for the Bulldogs.
Finally, with 4:20 left in the half, one team managed to pull out in front by six, but it wasn’t the team that most people would have predicted. While Winthrop closed the first half on a 7-2 run, it was Asheville that still took a 1-point lead into the locker room, marking just the second time all season that Winthrop trailed at halftime.
Asheville wasted no time to start the second half, making its first basket attempt out of the locker room — a 3-pointer. The Bulldogs then made their second shot attempt. And their third. And their fourth. And their fifth.
Just over two minutes into the second half, the Eagles faced a game-high 8-point deficit, but they were nowhere near out. Trailing 37-29, Winthrop went on a 9-1 run to tie the game, 38-38.
With the game tied again, this time at 41 points each, Winthrop senior Charles Falden worked his way into the paint and scored, giving the Eagles their first lead of the second half with 10:26 to go. All 50 or so family members in attendance (the only spectators allowed due to COVID-19 protocols) were at this point the loudest they had been all game.
The Eagles extended their lead and were up by eight points with 4:32 left to play, but the momentum shifted once more. Down 54-47, Asheville went on an 8-0 run to re-take the lead with 1:47 left to play. Two more points put the Bulldogs up by three with 1:05 remaining in the game.
The Eagles missed their next look on offense and chose not to foul on the defensive side of the ball. They forced a shot clock violation but were left with just ten seconds to score three points (to tie the game).
When the Eagles didn’t get the results they needed at the free-throw line, the buzzer sounded and Asheville’s players celebrated with an excitement level that some would consider to be gloating.
“I told our guys, it’s a sign of respect when a team celebrates like that when they beat you,” Kelsey said. “It means you’re a good team, and they deserved to celebrate. I think it was a well-earned victory.”
Winthrop senior Chandler Vaudrin shared similar sentiments.
“It hurts. Our heads aren’t down though; we’re not that kind of team,” Vaudrin said. “You could see, as they reacted, every team we play, this is their Super Bowl. This is the game they have to win — they circle it three times on the schedule.”
While Vaudrin credited Asheville for playing a better game than Winthrop, he also placed a lot of the blame for the loss on himself, saying he needed to make more shots. His coach is certainly confident that he can do that.
“That’s just Chan being Chan and being a leader,” Kelsey said. “He’s not a good player, he’s a great player, and I will ride or die with Chandler Vaudrin every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
“In big moments I want the ball in his hands. He’s proved time and time again that he’s one of the best playmakers in the entire country, and I have unequivocally the utmost confidence in him to help us be an elite team, win a championship and be special.”
Winthrop is slated to face Radford next for a double-header on Feb. 11 and 12, though with COVID-19 cancelations and teams trying to squeeze games in wherever they can, it is possible the Eagles could take the court again sooner than the current schedule indicates.
