M&M boys lead men to sweet victory
Friday, July 9, 2010 at 10:05PM By Steven Bowers
The M & M show made a visit to the Winthrop Coliseum on Tuesday night. And no, it wasn’t the well-known rapper Marshall Mathers with the explicit lyrics.
Eagle hoop stars Morgan and Middleton put on this show.
Similar to the Eminem Show CD, this show should have had a parental advisory to warn Gardner-Webb parents of what their kids were about to be exposed to.
The visiting Bulldogs were given a dose of Morgan in the first half and Middleton in the second as Winthrop won their seventh straight game 69-64.
Sophomore guard Reggie Middleton picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game, but didn’t play the remainder of the first half.
“That might have been the most frustrated I’ve been since the beginning of the season,” Middleton said. “I just couldn’t do anything to help my team.”
His absence was further complicated by the fact that his replacement, junior Justin Burton, also picked up two quick fouls in the first half. Freshman Reggie King played the last eight minutes of the half.
Center Matt Morgan picked up the slack and kept the Eagles in the game. He put up 13 of their 22 points in the half as he recorded a career-high 17 for the game. Winthrop trailed by two at the half.
Middleton got involved in the action in the second half. He got started by hitting a couple 3-pointers early and ended up with all of his game-high 18 points after intermission.
He said he had to redeem himself.
“He makes such a difference for us,” Head Coach Randy Peele said. “He gives us transition offense. Without him, we don’t get as many easy baskets.”
Despite Middleton’s efforts, the Eagles trailed 50-49 after three free throws with 5:15 remaining. The Bulldogs would not make a field goal over the next four and a half minutes.
Junior forward Charles Corbin gave Winthrop the lead for good at 51-50 as the Eagles went on a deciding 12-1 run punctuated by a Middleton bucket with only 50 seconds remaining on the clock.
Corbin had another solid effort with 10 points and eight boards. Freshman guard Robbie Dreher had a career-high eight assists.
The last time the Eagles won seven in a row was in 2007, the same year they upset Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
With an 11-4 record, Winthrop remains in second place in the Big South Conference. The win is the Eagles’ 10th in 11 games.
Peele urges people who care about the program to show up for Winthrop’s final regular season home game against UNC Asheville.
A win against the last team to beat the Eagles would guarantee a home game in the first round of the conference tournament.
He said that game would be huge, and the team needs the crowd’s energy.
The attendance for the Gardner-Webb game was 1,737.
