Brendon Rowell tallied 18 points, eight assists and four steals to lift Elon past High Point 74-66 Thursday night at Alumni Gym. The regionally-televised contest marked the regular season finale for both teams.

The battle featured five lead changes and four ties in the first half with the Phoenix (12-15, 7-7 Big South) securing a 32-31 halftime edge. Elon exploded out of the locker room for a 15-2 surge to build a 47-33 advantage with 14:07 to play, and held on for the win.

High Point (9-18, 5-9) was paced by Dustin Van Weerdhuizen (18 points), Joe Knight (16 points) and Steven Cornette (who tied a career-high with 16 points).

Turnovers were High Point's undoing. The Panthers turned the ball over 17 times in the first half alone, and finished with 22. High Point did shoot an impressive 91 percent from the charity stripe

Since the two teams joined the Big South together three years ago, they are even at three wins apiece, with the home team emerging victorious each time. High Point now leads the overall series, 76-73.

The Panthers will meet UNC Asheville in the opening round of the Big South Tournament at 6:00 pm Thursday night in the Roanoke Civic Center.

HIGH POINT (66) - Knight 4-10 7-7 16, Alves 0-4 0-0 0, Van Weerdhuizen 4-11 8-8 18, Halsch 1-3 4-5 6, Wallace 2-5 0-0 4, Ignatavicius 2-2 0-0 4, Cornette 6-13 2-3 16, Stonehocker 1-2 0-0 2

ELON (74) - Rowell 6-11 4-8 18, Sims 5-10 0-1 12, Marsh 3-10 0-4 6, Johnson 6-6 1-2 13, Hall 3-8 2-2 9, Harvin 0-1 4-4 4, McCleod 2-3 0-0 4, Adams 0-3 4-8 4, Atoyebi 1-4 2-2 4

High Point                          31  35  66 Elon                                   32  42  74

3-Point Goals- High Point 5-19 (Cornette 2-5, Van Weerdhuizen 2-6, Knight 1-4, Alves 0-4), Elon 5-14 (Rowell 2-4, Sims 2-5, Hall 1-3, Harvin 0-1, McCleod 0-1). Fouled out- High Point (Knight) Elon (Atoyebi). Rebounds- High Point 33 (Van Weerdhuizen 6, Halsch 6), Elon 35 (Hall 8). Assists- High Point 11 (Knight 5, Ignatavicius 5), Elon 16 (Rowell 8).