ROCK HILL, S.C. – Gardner-Webb's furious rally in the final two minutes fell short Sunday afternoon and the Runnin' Bulldogs dropped a 91-83 decision at first-place Winthrop.

Jacob Falko led the way with 20 points, Jaheam Cornwall scored 18 and D'Maurian Williams followed with 12 points off the bench to lead Gardner-Webb (3-8, 2-4 Big South).

GWU played a strong all-around first half and put the Eagles (11-0, 8-0 Big South) in a halftime hole for the first time all season – seizing a 46-40 lead at intermission after a late Jamaine Mann bucket in the lane.

Winthrop responded to that deficit with a methodical, 31-11 run out of the locker room to take a 73-57 lead with 6:30 to play on a pair of Charles Falden free throws. The Eagles started the half with a quick 6-0 rally to tie the game, then after Gardner-Webb regained a 50-46 lead on back-to-back buckets from Cornwall and Ludovic Dufeal, Winthrop rallied for another 6-0 run to answer.

Dufeal tied the game with a layup off a Cornwall dish with 14:32 to play, but Russell Jones, Jr., drained a three to give Winthrop the lead for good on the next trip. Mann cut the lead to one point on a basket with 13:52 left, but the Eagles went on 16-1 run from there to seemingly put the game out of reach.

Gardner-Webb would fight, however, as it has all season long.

Mann drove off the left wing for a thunderous dunk down the lane and Falko made four-straight free throws to trim the lead down to 73-63.

Falko again cut the lead down to 10 points – was 79-69 – with 2:35 to play, but Winthrop's Chandler Vaudrin answered with two free throws of his own at the 1:46 mark to put the hosts back up by 12. A wild final 100 seconds ensued.

Williams sank a wing three for Gardner-Webb, then Dufeal answered two Winthrop free throws with a layup for an 83-74 deficit with 1:19 to go. Cornwall sank two free throws at the 1:02 mark to cut the lead down to eight points (84-76), but Jones answered with two of his own for a double figures deficit.

Jordan Sears drove for a strong layup with 46.2 seconds left to cut the lead to 86-78 – then Williams connected on a driving layup of his own off a Winthrop turnover. That made the score 86-80 with 41.4 seconds remaining. Immediately off the inbounds, Williams stole the ball and was fouled – with his two free throws making the score 86-62 with 38.3 seconds to go.

Gardner-Webb would get no closer, however, as Winthrop made five of its last six free throws to hold onto the lead for the second day in a row.

The Runnin' Bulldogs shot 46.2 percent for the game, but made just 11-of-28 in the second half (39.3 percent) – and only 1-of-11 threes in the second half. Foul trouble played a role once again, with two men fouling out and two others collecting four fouls before the end of the game.

Gardner-Webb held a strong 46-26 edge in paint scoring and averaged 1.03 points per possession for the game.

Winthrop made 10 threes, shot 58.8 percent from the floor (30-of-51) and knocked down 21-of-28 free throws to remain unbeaten. The Eagles produced a very efficient 1.123 points per possession on the day.

Four men hit double figures, led by Vaudrin's 17 points (eight rebounds, six assists). DJ Burns added 14 points, Falden had 15 and Jones scored 11 off the bench.

Gardner-Webb will return to action on Thursday night in Radford, Va., facing the second-place Highlanders on national television at 7:00 PM (ESPNU). Matt Schick and Dan Bonner will call the game live.