Florida State ekes out home win over Winthrop

Field Level Media|published: Fri 22nd December, 22:06 2023

Nov 17, 2023; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton looks on during the first half against the Florida Gators at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. credits: Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

Jalen Warley's spinning layup and Darin Green Jr.'s steal and breakaway dunk in the last 1:18 helped the Florida State Seminoles pull away late from the Winthrop Eagles 67-61 in their nonconference matchup on Friday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

Warley, who scored 12 points, led the Seminoles (6-5) to their second straight win and improved their home record to 4-2.

Primo Spears had 12 points and three steals, while De'Ante Green notched 10 points and five rebounds.

Florida State went 30-for-42 (71.4 percent) on free-throw attempts, while Winthrop was 20-for-27 (74.1 percent).

The Eagles (8-6) got a game-best 15 points from Nick Johnson. Kelton Talford managed 14 points and eight rebounds as the Big South school lost its third straight game.

The Seminoles watched Winthrop go ahead 11-6 on K.J. Doucet's 3-pointer from the right wing, and the Eagles twice led by six later in the half.

Florida State struggled from the floor, connecting on just three of its first 17 field goal attempts and falling behind 16-10 after Talford's baseline slam at 8:56.

Finally, with 4:02 left, Florida State took its initial lead on De'Ante Green's power layup through traffic for a 20-18 advantage.

To close out the half, the teams made just one field goal apiece in the final 4:01, and the Seminoles led 25-24 at the break.

The Seminoles missed 21 of their 28 field-goal attempts (25 percent), but Winthrop was not much better (9-for-28, 32.1 percent).

Scoreless in the first half, Florida State's top scorer, Darin Green Jr., popped an open trey from the left wing at to cap a 7-0 run at 16:35 of the second. That gave the Seminoles their largest lead to that point, 35-30.

However, Winthrop erased the deficit with two free throws from Johnson and a deep shot by Yoro Diallo, and neither team created another separation on the scoreboard greater than one possession until the Seminoles went up 52-48 on two free throws by Spears at the 6:19 mark.

Warley made three from the stripe, then Darin Green Jr. hit a trey from the left wing on a pass kicked back to him for a 58-50 lead with 3:20 to play.

—Field Level Media