Davidson 60, Winthrop 47

2/22/2008 8:25 PM

ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) -Davidson's Jason Richards scored 21 points and the Wildcats overcame a season-low 12 points from Stephen Curry to beat Winthrop 60-47 on Friday night.

Davidson (21-6) won its 17th straight game despite a poor outing by Curry, who shot 4-of-14 from the floor and made just 2-of-9 3-pointers. The game marked only the fourth time this season the sophomore hasn't led his team in scoring. He averages 25.8 points a game.

Davidson never trailed, scoring 12 straight points early in the first half to turn a tie game into a 20-8 lead. The Eagles (18-10) would trail by at least seven points the rest of the way.

Winthrop was down by its largest margin of 18 points with just over seven minutes to go when the Eagles scored the next nine points over the next four minutes to trail 51-42.

Michael Jenkins missed a 3-pointer to cut into the deficit even further, and Curry found Andrew Lovedale on an alley-oop with 1:50 to go to push Davidson's lead back into double-digits for good.

Chris Gaynor scored 16 points to lead the Eagles, while Taj McCullough added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Lovedale added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who have the second longest winning streak in the country behind No. 1 Memphis.

The ESPN Bracketbuster matchup between the mid-major teams 45 miles apart in the suburbs of Charlotte, N.C., was the first time they have played in 16 years.