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Gaynor, Winthrop hand Miami first loss

Dec 30, 2007 - 3:33 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Senior-laden Winthrop benefited from a strong second half to hand 19th-ranked Miami its first loss of the season.

Chris Gaynor scored a career-high 21 points to lead four Eagles in double figures en route to a 76-70 victory over the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl Classic on Saturday.

Gaynor was 7-of-8 from the field - including 5-of-6 from 3-point range - for Winthrop, which outscored Miami, 49-38, in the second half.

Taj McCullough scored 19 points, Michael Jenkins added 14 and Antwon Harris had 12 for the Eagles (7-5).

"We relaxed," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "We got too casual. That was the difference in giving them back momentum. We had a chance to take control of the game and didn't do a good job of that, and it was our ball-handling."

Miami (12-1) extended its halftime lead to 10 points just three minutes into the second half and seemed poise to make this game a blowout.

Winthrop went on a 14-0 run to take a four-point lead at 44-40 with 11 minutes to play. The Hurricanes were held scoreless for over six minutes.

Junior guard Jack McClinton scored a season-high 30 points for Miami, which was two wins shy of posting its best record in school history, set in 2001-02.

Anthony King scored a season-high 16 points but the senior only had two in the second half for the Hurricanes. King's previous high was 14 points in an 83-74 victory over Alabama State on November 28.

Winthrop evened the all-time series with Miami at 2-2, although the teams hadn't faced each other since the 1995-96 season.