Joe Knight's layup in traffic with 3.0 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Panthers an exhausting 99-98 victory over the Flames Saturday night in HPU's final appearance this season in the Millis Center.
Liberty's Chris Caldwell, who scored the Flames' final seven points, missed a 27-footer as the horn sounded which would have won the game.
The Panthers (9-17, 5-8 Big South) blew an 18-point second half lead and almost didn't escape into an extra period. High Point led 77-71 before Travis Eisentrout canned a trey with 38 seconds left in regulation, Philip Ward came up with a huge steal, and Vincent Okotie made a layup with 14 seconds left. Knight hit 1-of-2 free throws on the other end, and J.R. Nicholas tipped in Caldwell's missed layup with three seconds left to force the first overtime.
Liberty (3-24, 1-12) fell behind by five in the first bonus period, but clawed back to take an 87-85 lead with 51 seconds left on a tip-in by David Watson. Brent Halsch connected on a pair of foul shots to send the game into a second overtime.
Dustin Van Weerdhuizen made 1-of-2 free throws with 44 seconds to go to give High Point a 97-96 lead, but Caldwell answered with a jumper on the other end. The Panthers brought the ball down and fed it to Knight, who drove the baseline, entered the paint and found the hoop among the trees.
Okotie led all scorers with 28 points. Knight had 26 points for the Panthers. Each team placed five players in double-figures.
High Point ends its regular season on TV at Elon (9:00 pm Thursday). The game will be televised on the Big South TV Network (Time Warner Cable Channel 69 in High Point and Greensboro, and on stations from Alabama to Virginia).
Liberty (98) - Ward 4-9 4-4 12, Okotie 9-14 6-11 28, Beeler 0-1 3-6 3, Nicholas 4-10 0-0 8, Caldwell 6-19 0-0 13, Persson 0-0 0-0 0, Attaway 1-3 0-0 2, Eisentrout 7-11 0-0 18, Watson 1-3 2-2 4, Sarchet 4-4 2-2 10.
High Point (99) - Van Weerdhuizen 7-14 1-4 19, Ignatavicius 4-10 3-3 11, Alves 5-10 2-3 16, Hart 1-5 0-0 2, Wallace 8-14 0-0 16, Knight 7-13 11-12 26, Cornette 1-2 0-0 2, Halsch 2-4 3-4 7, Stonehocker 0-2 0-0 0.
Liberty 34 44 9 11 98
High Point 41 37 9 12 99
3-Point Goals- Liberty 9-21 (Okotie 4-6, Eisentrout 4-7, Caldwell 1-7, Nicholas 0-1), High Point (Van Weerdhuizen 4-7, Alves 4-7, Knight 1-3, Hart 0-1, Cornette 0-1, Ignatavicius 0-3). Fouled out- Liberty (Nicholas), High Point (Ignatavicius). Rebounds- Liberty 40 (Ward, 10), High Point 44 (Van Weerdhuizen, 10). Assists- Liberty 15 (Caldwell, 6), High Point 20 (Ignatavicius 5, Knight 5).
