High Point made a furious rally from a big second-half deficit in hostile territory, but came up short at four-time defending League champ Winthrop, 80-64, in the first round of the 2003 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men's Basketball Championship Tuesday night in Rock Hill, S.C.

The Panthers finish the season at 7-20.

The top-seeded Eagles advance to face fifth-seeded UNC Asheville, a 58-56 overtime winner at Elon Tuesday night, in the first semifinal Friday night at Lynchburg's Vines Center. Liberty and Radford will meet at 8:30 pm in the second semifinal.

HPU cut a 29-point Winthrop lead (52-23 with 17:22 left) to 12 points at 71-59 following two Danny Gathings free throws with 4:35 to go, but the Panthers would get no closer.

Gathings led HPU with 21 points and recorded his eighth double-double of the season, while Kashawn Hampton (13 points) and Jeff Allen (10 points) also reached double-figures for the Panthers.

Pierre Wooten led all scorers with 22 points for the Eagles. Josh Grant added 13 points off the bench.

High Point scored the game's first four points, but Winthrop responded with 13 straight to take a nine-point lead. The Eagles kept HPU off the offensive glass and methodically stretched the advantage to 21 points at intermission (44-23).

The Panthers were 1-for-9 from behind the three-point arc in the first half, and didn't shoot much better from the field overall (9-for-31, 29 percent).

Senior forward Dustin Van Weerdhuizen did not play due to a suspension for violating athletic department rules. 

Knight and Gathings were both named to the All-Big South second team. Halsch was one of eight players in the League to earn All-Academic Team honors.