Winthrop was facing a significant upset as the No. 2 seed of the Big South tournament. Then it locked in for the final minute.
Down 81-74 against No. 7 seed Charleston Southern, the Eagles scored eight points in the span of 13 seconds on their way toan 86-81 win in the quarterfinals.
The fun began with a 3-pointer from Josh Meo, which itself was scored only after an offensive rebound off a missed shot from deep. Charleston then went full-court press, got the trap, got the steal and scored an and-1 via Kody Clouet.
Advertisement
Charleston Southern then again failed to get the ball across the halfcourt line, with Meo getting another steal and Logan Duncomb scoring the go-ahead lay-up.
The game went from an 81-74 Charleston Southern lead with 30 seconds left to an 82-81 Winthrop lead with 16 seconds left. The Buccaneers still got a couple chances to save the game, but nothing went their way before the clock hit zero.
Duncomb led the Eagles with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench, while, Charleston Southern's A'lahn Sumler led all scorers with 26 points.
Winthrop will face the winner of No. 3 Radford and No. 6 Presbyterian in the semifinals on Saturday.