"When I saw we were down, I couldn't go out like that"
Recapping Winthrop thrilling quarterfinal win over Charleston Southern
The stories for this game were in pregame, as Logan Duncomb appeared WITHOUT a boot and dressed out.
Same for Brycen Blaine, who hadn’t appeared since Feb 4th at High Point.
After a missed 3 by Winthrop to start the game, Jacob Taylor corked off a 3 of his own, which seemed to find the bottom of the net, which led to CSU taking a 7-1 lead into the Under 16, with Duncomb still on the bike for Winthrop.
After the Under 16, Winthrop finally got going with 2 free throws by Clouet. Kareem Rozier followed with a jumper. Next, a loud pop echoed as Logan Duncomb checked in after Ed Nnamoko’s injury. He almost immediately gave Winthrop the lead at the line with 2 free throws.
A 3 pointer from Kody Clouet put Winthrop with their biggest lead of 5 but CSU with points on back to back to back possessions to take the lead once again for Charleston Southern. CSU was not done with the scoring, though, as next time down, CSU got another one to fall before Logan Duncomb stopped the bleeding with a layup, but that layup seemed to be a bandaid on a gunshot as CSU entered the Under 8 media on a 14-2 run.
That timeout, once again, seemed to just be putting another bandaid on the gunshot as Jaquias Franklin scored on the next two CSU possessions. Winthrop was finally able to stop the bleeding and some momentum after Kody Clouet and Logan Duncomb combined to go on a 9-0 run of their own, before A’lahn Sumler made 1 of 2 to stop the bleeding.
After a foul sent us to the Under 4, Brycen Blaine headed to the line, cashing home both free throws to give CSU a 3-point lead. Ed Nnamoko comes back in after being injured early and gets 2 for Winthrop, followed by 2 more by Daylen Berry, giving Winthrop a lead before Jesse Hafemeister corked off a 3 that swished, giving CSU the lead back, a lead that would enter halftime as a 3-point CSU advantage.
Winthrop began the scoring in the 2nd half with Ed Nnamoko making 1 of 2 at the free throw line, but that was overshadowed by Logan Duncomb having ice on his foot coming out of the tunnel in the 2nd half. CSU then began their 2nd half scoring with a Jesse Hafemeister layup and Luke Williams 3 before Kareem Rozier got two of his own. After a review that led to no changes, Hendawy makes an in-bound layup to cut CSU’s lead to 3, but Nate Brafford with a goaltending AND 1 that would send up to the Under 16, which was converted.
Logan Duncomb returned to the locker room as CSU continued a run before Ed Nnamoko scored on the other end, cutting CSU’s lead to single digits. Winthrop corked a little run, separated by a CSU layup by Reis Jones. After the Under 12, Logan Duncomb returned to the game and immediately scored and helped Winthrop tie it back up at 57, and a Tommy Kamarad 3 gave Winthrop the lead, causing CSU to rip a timeout.
Winthrop continued their run with a Logan Duncomb layup before Luke Williams cut the lane, ending Winthrop’s run, before a Logan Duncomb layup gave CSU a 5-point lead into the Under 8. Coming out of the Under 8, Jacob Taylor had a crucial rebound and layup, but Daylen Berry negated that with a fadeaway on the other end.
After a series of things that you aren’t allowed to do and some turnovers, Luke Williams with a big layup to cut Winthrop’s lead to 2, but a foul on the other end extended it back to 4 with two at the line from Wilson. After two trips to the line on both ends left us at 4, A’lahn Sumler with a massive 3 to cut it to 1, and a Reis Jones layup gave CSU the lead once again, and Hafemeister with an open lane gave CSU a 3-point lead into the Under 4.
CSU continued their run with Sumler making 1 of 2 at the line, then a dunk by Reis Jones, who would later foul out, which sent Duncomb to the line, but when Winthrop seemed dead. Two CSU turnovers let Winthrop TAKE THE LEAD with just over 20 seconds, and after a LONG review, CSU loses the ball, and Winthrop gets fouled, sending them to the line where Rozier made both.
The final shot by CSU did not even happen as Hafemeister stepped out of bounds before getting his shot off, and Clouet iced the game at the line.
Post Game Recap:
Mark Prosser in his opening statement, “I have been amazed by the resolve of this team for months, if you have been following our season, you know we’ve been in difficult venues and difficult situations and during those last two media timeout they don’t blink”
Logan Duncomb when asked about his 106 word statement at Xavier, “You know I think I’ve grown a lot since my time at Xavier, you know that was a challenging time for me and I used that time to grow a lot as a person and as a basketball player, I had to figure myself out. During that time, I feel in love with the game, I want nothing more than to be playing basketball. When I saw when we were down 11, I couldn’t go out like that.”
Mark Prosser on Duncomb’s character, “If you come ever come to our arena we have this thing by our locker room, it says Culture of Joy and it sounds great sometimes, we want our kids to find the joy of playing the game and play because they love it.”