BOX SCORE

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop used a 19-2 run to grab control of a back-and-forth contest and defeat Radford, 74-58, in Big South men's basketball action Thursday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Despite the setback, Martins Abele (Saldus, Latvia) recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Gorkem Sonmez (Istanbul, Turkey) also contributed double figures off the bench for Radford with 10.

"Martins practiced very well yesterday," said Highlander head coach Brad Greenberg. "He has the potential to impact games. Tonight he was very balanced and stronger in trying to score."

Matt Morgan led four Eagles (8-10, 4-4 Big South) in double figures with 13 points. Robbie Dreher scored 12, George Valentine added 11 and Charles Corbin charted his second straight double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

After Radford (4-14, 1-7) used a 15-6 run late in the first half to take its largest lead, 29-25, the Eagles closed the period on a 7-2 spurt, including a Joab Jerome steal and layup at the buzzer to take a 32-31 advantage into the break.

Abele, who hadn't scored more than six points in a contest prior to Thursday, led all players at the half with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

"We played a strong first half, but you need to play the entire 40 minutes against a solid team on the road," Greenberg said.

Winthrop reeled off 12 straight points to open the second half and extend its lead to 44-31, with 15:46 to play.

In addition to their game-changing run, the Eagles shot 57.7 percent in the final stanza, while holding Radford to just 31 percent (9-for-29) and 36.4 percent overall.

"Our effort was good, but we still struggled to be efficient on the offensive end."

The Highlanders closed to within six (49-43) on one of Sonmez' three 3-pointers in the second half, but couldn't get closer as the Eagles extended their margin back to double figures.

Winthrop finished with a 44-32 advantage on the glass.

Radford will conclude the first half of its Big South schedule on Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. tip at Presbyterian