Jones scores 11, sinks late free throw to help Winthrop defeat Charleston Southern 55-53

Winthrop defeats Charleston Southern 55-53

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Andre Jones scored 11 points and Winthrop held on to defeat Charleston Southern 55-53 on Thursday night.

The Eagles (10-10, 6-4 Big South Conference) led 44-26 with 15:18 remaining. But the Buccaneers went on a 25-8 run to pull within 52-51. Kelvin Martin’s tip-in capped the run with 1:25 to play.

Winthrop’s Charles Corbin answered with a jumper with 1:04 left, before Martin hit another basket to make it 54-53 with 32 seconds left.

Mantoris Robinson then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for the Eagles. Corbin grabbed the offensive rebound, but missed a jump shot. The Eagles grabbed the offensive rebound again and Jones hit a free throw with 11 seconds to go.

Winthrop had 16 offensive rebounds and held the Buccaneers (10-10, 5-5) to just 13 percent shooting in the first half (3 of 23).

Jamarco Warren and Jeremy Sexton scored 15 points each for the Eagles.