Dustin Van Weerdhuizen poured in a career-high 38 points as High Point, playing with just six players, broke a five-game skid with a 72-68 win over Liberty Wednesday night at the Millis Center.
HPU improves to 7-18 (3-10 in Big South play), while the Flames drop to 13-13, 8-5 in the League.
Liberty, which dropped its third-consecutive contest, also missed out on a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in next week's Big South Tournament. The Flames will now need to win at Radford Friday night to assure themselves of a second-place finish.
The Panthers dressed just seven players due to the suspensions of three players: sophomore forward Danny Gathings, senior center Kashawn Hampton, and sophomore guard Joe Knight. The trio missed the game after violating the athletic department's study hall policy. Gathings and Knight are HPU's top two scorers (18.6 and 16.6 points per game, respectively).
Van Weerdhuizen made up for their absence by going 13-of-22 from the field, including 5-of-10 behind the three-point arc, to shatter his previous career-high of 27 (set this season at Coastal Carolina). His tally was the second-highest scoring total for a Panther this season (behind Knight's 40-point performance at Vanderbilt in December).
The Panthers jumped out to a 17-6 lead behind the hot hand of Van Weerdhuizen, but Liberty closed the half on a 9-2 run to pull within 29-25 at intermission. Van Weerdhuizen had 20 points in the first half.
High Point built a 43-31 lead after six straight Van Weerdhuizen points, but the Flames surged back and cut the deficit to just two points at 57-55 with 5:29 to play on a three-pointer by Vincent Okotie. The teams traded punches and Liberty found itself within 68-66 with 28 seconds remaining following one of Gabe Martin's four three-pointers.
But Ron Barrow broke free for a layup on the other end, Martin missed a three with 16 seconds left, and Matt Anderson nailed a pair of free throws to put things out of reach.
Martin led Liberty with 26 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Okotie added 22 points.
Brent Halsch (12 points) and Barrow (10 points) also reached double-figures for HPU.
HPU already knows its postseason itinerary. The Panthers, who have locked up the No. 8 seed, will travel to four-time defending Big South champion Winthrop Tuesday night at 7:00 pm for a first-round game, with the winner advancing to a Friday semifinal at the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va.
But the Panthers still have one regular-season game to go. It comes Saturday afternoon in the Millis Center against Elon, and it's the last time the Panthers and Phoenix will meet as Big South Confrerence rivals. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 pm following a 1:00 pm start for the Elon and High Point women's teams.
