NCAA Game Summary - Winthrop vs. Gonzaga

Tucson, AZ (Basketball News) - Adam Morrison scored 27 points and Gonzaga withstood a game effort from underdog Winthrop to record a 74-64 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the McKale Center.

Morrison made 12-of-19 field goal attempts and netted 17 of his points in the second-half to lead the Bulldogs, the third seed out of the Albuquerque bracket, into Saturday’s second round.

Ronny Turiaf compiled 13 points and 13 rebounds and J.P. Batista contributed 14 points for Gonzaga (26-4), which will next face either sixth-seeded Texas Tech or 11th-seed UCLA.

Winthrop (27-6), which held the nation’s longest win streak of 18 games coming in, received 22 points from Torrell Martin, who hit six three-pointers. Phillip Williams finished with 17 points and James Shuler added 12 for the 14th-seeded Eagles, who gave the Bulldogs all they could handle before yielding late.

Gonzaga now owns the top win streak with its 13th consecutive triumph.

The Bulldogs struggled all night long against Winthrop’s tough matchup zone and were tied 60-60 with the Big South champs until Derek Raivio’s three- pointer with 4:41 remaining. Following a timeout, Morrison sunk a shot from beyond the arc with 3:22 to go for a 66-60 lead, Gonzaga’s largest at that point of the game.

The Eagles still trailed by six, 68-62, with under two minutes left began to wilt down the stretch. Craig Bradshaw missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:29 remaining and Morrison knocked the ball from point guard Chris Gaynor for a turnover with just over a minute to play. Two made free throws by Turiaf with 47 seconds left would finally put the game on ice.

Winthrop took a 35-33 lead into the break on the strength of its perimeter shooting, as the Eagles 7-of-13 three-point attempts in the first half. Consecutive triples by Martin and Bradshaw gave Winthrop a 26-21 advantage with 6:02 remaining before intermission and the margin grew to six points, 29-23, when Williams buried a trey from the corner less than a minute later.

A 6-0 run ending with Morrison’s inside bucket near the two-minute mark of the first half put Gonzaga up 33-32, but Martin drained a contested three-pointer to send the Eagles into the locker room with a two-point edge.

Morrison then took over in the early stages of the second half. His second- chance basket three minutes into the period tied the game at 39-39 and he followed with a short baseline jumper at the 16:31 mark to put the Bulldogs in front.

Martin answered with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to send Winthrop back ahead and the lead would change seven more times over the next few minutes.

Back-to-back baskets by Batista gave Gonzaga a 60-56 lead with six minutes to go and the Bulldogs looked like they would finally pull away. However, a steal and fastbreak layup from Martin followed by two made free throws by Williams pulled the Eagles back even.