Recap: Ark-Pine Bluff vs. Winthrop
Sports Network | March 16, 2010
Dayton, OH (Sports Network) - Allen Smith scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed six rebounds, leading Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a convincing 61-44 win over Winthrop in the opening-round contest of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The win earned the Golden Lions (18-15) the No. 16 seed in the South Region and the right to play No. 1 seed and ACC champion Duke in Jacksonville on Friday in the first round of the Big Dance.
A victory over Texas Southern in the SWAC title game on Saturday, its 11th win in its previous 12 games, gave Arkansas-Pine Bluff its first ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Thanks to their defense, which held Winthrop (19-14) to a season-low scoring output, the Lions will continue playing, as they try to become the first No. 16 seed to knock off the top team in their portion of the bracket.
"It feels great," an excited Smith said of the monumental win. "It's the first time we got a win in the SWAC in 17 years [in the NCAA Tournament]."
Tyree Glass chipped in 10 points, while Tavaris Washington had 13 rebounds to go with eight points and five assists for the victors.
Charles Corbin and Matt Morgan led the Eagles with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Big South champions shot 29.1 percent for the game, including a woeful 2- for-21 from three-point range.
"We picked a bad time to have a bad game," Winthrop head coach Randy Peele said. "This team has played very well throughout the course of the year and has accomplished a great deal."
Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which started its season with 11 straight losses, led by as many as 16, 53-37, following a Lebaron Weathers make with under five minutes left in regulation.
Winthrop got as close as 53-44 on a Corbin layup with three minutes to go, but that was the last bucket for the Eagles, as they missed their final six shots, five coming from long distance.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff was on top 11-4 eight minutes in, but a 13-2 run between eight and two minutes left in the opening stanza saw the Eagles inch ahead.
Two Mantoris Robinson free throws gave Winthrop a 23-17 edge, only to watch the Lions score the final seven points of the half for a one-point lead break.
Smith made a pair of three-pointers in the opening six-plus minutes of the second half, the latter giving UAPB a 38-31 cushion.
Near the midway point of the second half, Savalance Townsend's baseline spin move led to an easy bucket in the lane, putting the Lions in front 45-36.
After Winthrop's Andy Buechert missed two free throws, George Davis hit a jumper and Townsend later added a three, capping a 10-2 spurt that gave the Lions a 48-36 lead with 8 1/2 minutes to play.
Glass suffered a knee injury early in the second half and did not return... This was Winthrop's fifth trip to the "Big Dance" in the last six years and ninth overall. The Eagles are 1-9 all-time in the tourney...UAPB shot 38.6 percent from the field...Weathers had seven points, seven boards and four blocks...Robinson ended with 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss...Winthrop's Reggie Middleton went 2-for-12 from the field for five points.
