By MONTE DUTTON

It was defense that set the stage for Winthrop’s 82-72 victory over Presbyterian in men’s basketball at Templeton Center on Saturday afternoon.

All except for the Eagles’ Logan Duncomb. He provided the game with most of its offense, scoring 38 points, and checked almost all the squares: 13/22 field goals, 12/17 at the foul line, 15 rebounds, two steals, two assists, two turnovers and a blocked shot.

A 6-10 senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, and transfer from Xavier, Duncomb didn’t occupy himself with three-pointers. His teammates hit 5/19 (.263). Seifeldin Hendawy added 12 points and Kareem Rozier 11.

Winthrop (15-8, 7-1 Big South) shot .413 (26/63), but its players not named Duncomb combined to hit 13/41 (.317).

“I thought the guys played relatively hard,” PC head coach Quinton Ferrell said later. “We didn’t play our best game. I thought the biggest difference was the rebounding. (Winthrop led, 39-35, 18-14 in the second half.)”  

Four Presbyterian players scored in double figures, but the Blue Hose (11-11, 4-3) also experienced difficulty in the percentages. PC hit 23/56 field goals (.411) and 4/19 triples (.211). The Blue Hose popped 22/25 free throws (.880), but Winthrop tried 10 more and hit three more.

The Blue Hose combined to foul Duncomb 12 times. Triston Wilson, who had an uncharacteristic six first-half turnovers, fouled out, and four others were playing with four fouls at the end.

Carl Parrish led the Blue Hose with 18 points. Jonah Pierce collected another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Wilson scored 12 points. Josh Pickett scored 11. Their balance could not counter the Winthrop juggernaut, Duncomb, inside.

Trailing by eight points at the half, Presbyterian scored nine of the latter half’s first 12 points, cutting Winthrop’s lead to 42-37 after two free throws from Pickett at the 16:19 mark. Winthrop maintained a lead of 4-8 points until Piece made two free throws at 11:03, cutting Winthrop’s lead to one, 53-52.

Duncomb made one free throw, then Pierce scored inside, tying the score at 54 with 10 minutes left. Winthrop regained the lead after scoring six straight points. Wilson scored inside for the Blue Hose with 6:35 on the clock, getting PC back to within two, 64-62. Winthrop again scored six straight points, pushing their lead to 70-62. After baskets from Peterson and Parrish and two free throws from Wilson, Presbyterian answered with their own 6-0 run, cutting Winthrop’s lead to 70-68.  The two teams exchanged free throws, with Winthrop leading 72-70 with 3:20 left on the clock. Winthrop closed out the game on a 10-2 run.

The Blue Hose next visit High Point on Thursday at 9 p.m., the starting time facilitated for live national television on ESPNU.

Take a look at the stats here.                ‘

Clinton High’s girls continued to clobber. Class 2A’s top-ranked Red Devils scored their 20^th victory, against one loss, at home over Region 3 rival Mid-Carolina (5-10, 2-3), 45-16. Clinton’s region record is 5-0.

Clinton’s boys (12-8, 5-0) held region serve with with a 69-33 defeat of the Rebels (8-11, 2-3).

Ciinton visits Fairfield Central on Tuesday and returns home to face Columbia on Friday.

Laurens (14-7, 4-1 Region 1-4A) blistered the Emerald boys (3-13, 0-5), 94-49, after the Raiders (13-8, 3-2) beat the Viking girls (0-13, 0-5) even worse, 61-9.

The Laurens Academy girls (18-1) plastered King, 58-17, on the road, and the Crusaders (10-10) similarly thrashed the Knights, 54-19, in the boys’ game.

Thornwell Charter (7-7) won its girls’ game at Calhoun Falls Charter, 46-30, last week. The Blue Flashes won the boys’ game, 70-17, over the Saints (0-14).

For once, when I heard Jim Nantz say, from Denver, “We’re going to start the second half with snow flurries,” this Southerner thought, ah, that ain’t nothin’.

Kids, if you want to grow up to be a great athlete, it’s simple according to America’s great broadcasters.

Run north and south and downhill.

Be high-IQ and high-character.

Eat your Wheaties.

Cultivate a nose for the ball.

Give 110 percent. Drop a dime. Go on a heater. Be the GOAT. Like Mike. Square up. Bury a three. Clean the boards. Play all 94 feet. Throw it to the back shoulder. Win it all. Lock up. Go up strong. Love to get after it.

Piece of cake.

There’s no good time to move, but the worst weather weekend of the winter is among the worst.

For now, I’m losing a game of catch-up. I’ll soon have more time to devote to my modest craft. Three times last week I had to pass up games I’d intended to cover because of unexpected circumstances. It’ll normalize, but I’ve been telling myself that for a long time.

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