On a night which at times resembled a track meet instead of a basketball game, Liberty got a huge three-pointer from freshman Jeremy Monceaux and scored 12 straight points in crunchtime to edge High Point, 74-70, Thursday night in men's basketball action in the Vines Center.

The loss snapped the Panthers' three-game winning streak and dropped HPU to 5-7, 1-1 in the Big South.

Liberty improved to 7-7, 2-1 in league play.

A fast-paced, nip-and-tuck first half featured seven lead changes, but Liberty took control late and put together a 10-4 run to end the period and went to the locker room with its biggest lead at 40-32.

Monceaux hit a trio of three-point shots before halftime for Liberty, which shot 46 percent from behind the arc in the opening period. Reigning Big South Player of the Week Danny Gathings led all scorers with 12 points before intermission.

Trailing 45-39, the Panthers reeled off six straight points to tie things up, and took their first lead since early in the first half at 49-47 on a dunk and layup by Gathings. But the Flames came back and took a 57-53 lead on a Glyn Turner jump shot.

The Panthers ratted off an 8-0 run to take a 61-57 advantage which included two clutch threes by Dustin Van Weerdhuizen. HPU stretched its lead to five at 67-62 with 2:34 to go on a Joe Knight layup.

And then the Flames caught fire. Liberty rattled off 12 unanswered points, including Monceaux's three with 1:00 left, and nine free throws to ice things.

Gathings led all scorers with 28 points and tied a career-high with 14 rebounds. Van Weerdhuizen and Knight were also in double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Flames got a career-best 21 points from Monceaux, 19 from Gabe Martin, and 11 from Ryan Mantlo.

High Point hosts Coastal Carolina (8-5, 1-0) Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm.