Winthrop men’s basketball is now 2-1 after defeating Piedmont and Middle Tennessee in their last two games. Junior forward Kelton Talford led the way against Piedmont with 23 points and 11 rebounds, picking up where he left off after leading Winthrop in scoring against Penn State with 18 points two days prior.
It was the combined efforts of Talford, Corey Hightower, and Sin’Cere McMahon that pushed Winthrop past Middle Tennessee State. Those three combined to score 54 of Winthrop’s 76 points on the evening.
Winthrop head coach Mark Prosser isn’t surprised by this. When asked about the strengths and weaknesses of this team on Big South Media Day, he commented on the depth of this group. “I think we have a very deep team. It’s gonna be different guys on different days. We have a variety of guys who can fill the stat sheet,” coach said of this year’s squad.
Among the other things coach Prosser said he expects from this team is an improved defense, and during this recent two game streak, they’ve delivered. Last season the Eagles gave up 70 points per game to their opponents, compared to 62 points per game against Piedmont and Middle Tennessee State.
“We have the ability to be a little harder to score against defensively,” coach Prosser stated his personnel this season. “It’s been a lot of fun and I think we’re on the right track.”
Winthrop has 10 games left before they begin Big South conference play on December 29th on the road against USC Upstate. First however, they’ll be taking on the 15th ranked Auburn Tigers on November 15th.
“We want to constantly measure ourselves against the best teams in the country. That’s where we feel like we’ve gotten to,” coach Prosser said, expressing his excitement for this challenge. “That’s how you prepare for the games as you get into March. We want to see where we are on that national stage.”
