Winthrop Hoops Gearing up for Big Week

ROCK HILL, SC (WCCB Charlotte) — It could be a make or break week for Winthrop’s Big South regular season title hopes. The Eagles (18-7, 10-4) currently sit in a tie with UNC Asheville (17-9, 10-4) and have a half-game lead on Coastal Carolina (16-9, 10-5).

The Eagles have a date with both of those teams this week.

“Everyone is talking about how big a week it is,” fourth year coach Pat Kelsey said. “I’m (only) worried about Thursday (against Coastal Carolina).”

Winthrop has continued the momentum they built at the end of last season where the team made a run to the Big South Title Game. The Eagles have been playing their best basketball as of late–winning nine of their last ten games.

“As a coach, you want more,” Kelsey said. “But to sit here on February 16th in first place with a chance for a championship–you can’t ask for anything more.”

The team is led by Keon Johnson and Jimmy Gavin–a pair of shooters who are both above 40-percent from beyond the three point line for the season. Johnson was named co-Big South Player of the Week after scoring 32 points, including the game-winning shot as time expired, against Radford on Saturday.

It’s not just the two high-profile scorers, it’s a philosophy.

Pat Kelsey’s team is an up-and-down, high-tempo squad. Kelsey says the team ranks tenth in the nation in pace, 14th in scoring and 18th in field goal percentage.

“We play fast, we dunk, high-five and tilt the floor,” Kelsey says in an effort to get more fans at the games this week. “I think we are the best kept secret in the greater-Charlotte area.”