High Point blistered local rival UNC Greensboro with 70 percent shooting in the first half and won its fourth-straight game, an 85-72 victory Saturday night at Fleming Gym in Greensboro.

The Panthers improved to 5-3 behind Danny Gathings' fourth double-double in his last five contests (22 points, 12 rebounds), and won their sixth game in the seven meetings all-time between the two neighbors.

The Spartans fell to 4-3 on the season.

High Point started the game on fire -- literally. The Panthers made 12 of their first 13 shots from the field and streaked out to a 26-8 advantage on a Chris Meeks trey before much of the Fleming Gym crowd had even found its seats.

HPU held the Spartans to just 33 percent shooting (nine-of-27) from the field in the opening half, and closed it on an 8-1 run after Zione White drained a jumper with 15.3 seconds to play, Meeks stole the ball from UNCG's Ronnie Taylor on the other end, and fed Jerry Echenique, who laid it in just before the buzzer sounded to give the Panthers a sound 44-21 advantage at the break.

Gathings nearly had a double-double in the first half (12 points, eight rebounds). White had eight points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and no turnovers in the first stanza.

Things changed quickly after halftime, though, as the Spartans erased a chunk of the deficit right away with a 14-2 run to pull within 46-35 on a Ronnie Burrell jumper at the 13:08 mark.

But the Panthers came back with a hot streak of their own, building a 13-4 run to regain control and a 20-point lead at 59-39 on a layup by Landon Quick with 9:52 left.

HPU led by as many as 23 points in the second half. The Spartans did cut the deficit to 11 points (72-61) with 3:38 left on a layup by Jelani Lawrence, but got no closer.

White (19 points) and Meeks (12 points) joined Gathings in double-digits for the victorious Panthers. Patrick Hilliman (three points, a career-best seven rebounds in 10 minutes) also played well off the bench for HPU.

Jay Joseph led UNCG with 20 points, while Burrell (13 points, 10 rebounds) notched a double-double. Ricky Hickman and Ray Bristow contributed 10 points apiece.

HPU won the rebounding edge 39-38 and shot 54 percent to UNCG's 38 percent from the field.

The victory gives HPU its first four-game winning streak since the 1999-2000 season. It was also the third road win of the season over an NCAA Division I opponent for the Panthers -- the first time that's happened in the school's short Division I history.

The Panthers will try to run their record to 3-0 this season against Southern Conference competition when they travel to meet Furman on Saturday, Dec. 20, in Greenville, S.C. Tipoff in Timmons Arena is set for 2:30 pm.

To read the game notes for the Furman game, click on the "Game Notes" link below this story.