Winthrop cruises to 90-67 win over Gardner-Webb

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Xavier Cooks had 17 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to lead Winthrop to a 90-67 win over Gardner-Webb on Monday night.

Josh Ferguson and Adam Pickett also scored 17 points each for Winthrop, which shot 53 percent from the field to knock Gardner-Webb out of first place in the Big South Conference. Bjorn Broman added 11 points and Charles Falden 10.

Winthrop (9-8, 3-3) never trailed in the game and pulled away in the second half with a 16-4 run that included 3-pointers from Pickett, Bjorn Broman and Anders Broman to make it 56-40 with 14 1/2 minutes to go. The Eagles led by double figures the rest of the way and held Gardner-Webb (9-10, 4-2) to just one basket over the final four minutes, a 3-pointer from Liam O'Reilly, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

David Efianayi led Gardner-Webb with 21 points, DJ Laster added 13 points and Jamaal Robateau had 10.