Drake beats Winthrop 66-62 in Paradise Jam

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — Rayvonte Rice scored 23 points and Ben Simons chipped in with 19 to lead Drake to a hard-fought 66-62 win over Winthrop in the Paradise Jam.

Reggie Middleton led Winthrop with 26 points and five assists.

With the victory, Drake (3-1) advanced to Monday’s losers’ bracket finals against Virginia. Winthrop will take on Drexel in the tournament’s seventh-place game.

Drake shot 54 percent from the field (20-37) and held Winthrop to just 39-percent shooting (20-51), yet couldn’t shake the Eagles until the final minute.

With 24.7 seconds left in the game, Winthrop’s Reggie King and George Valentine trapped Rice and forced Drake into a shot-clock violation.

Winthrop (0-4), trailing by three, had the chance to tie the game with less than 15 seconds to go but Andre Jones’ 3-pointer was off the mark.

Rice then split a pair of free throws at the other end to seal the victory.