Mark Wilson poured in a career-high 27 points and Danny Gathings added a season-best 24 points to lead High Point to an 82-63 win over James Madison Wednesday night at the JMU Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va.
Wilson and Gathings are the first HPU teammates to break the 20-point barrier in the same game this season, and helped the Panthers improve their record to 4-8.
The Dukes fell to 2-7 on the year.
Gathings added 10 rebounds for his 23rd career double-double and became the 33rd member of the Big South Conference's 1,000-point/500-rebound club. He now has 1,093 points and 508 boards in a Panther uniform.
Wilson's effort, which came in just his third collegiate game, was the highest scoring output for a High Point player since Gathings scored 32 points in a win at Radford on Jan. 4, 2003.
Reigning Big South Player of the Week Zione White reached double-figures for the sixth-straight game with 10 points (all in the second half).
The Panthers shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and 44 percent overall while limiting JMU to just 35 percent from the floor. High Point was a scorching 9-of-18 from three-point land (50 percent).
James Madison's only lead of the game came at 9-6 in the opening moments. High Point responded with back-to-back threes by Wilson and Gathings to begin a 19-0 Panther run over seven minutes which closed with a pair of Jerry Echenique free throws and a 25-9 HPU cushion.
Wilson scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and the Panthers led by as many as 18 points in the first stanza en route to a 45-28 halftime advantage.
The Panthers built their largest lead at 61-40 on a thunderous dunk by Gathings with 12:02 to go before the Dukes made a run to get within 10 points (68-58) following two free throws by Chris Clarke with 8:00 to play. But High Point quelled the rally with two Wilson free throws and a layup by Gathings and JMU wouldn't get any closer.
Titus Byrd chipped in eight points and four assists, while Landon Quick contributed four assists off the bench for the Panthers. Wilson added eight points and two blocks, while Echenique tallied seven points and seven assists.
James Madison got a team-high 17 points and 10 boards from Cavell Johnson, while Jomo Belfour (16 points) and Ray Barbosa (15 points) also scored in double-figures.
It was the first-ever meeting on the hardwood between the Panthers and Dukes. HPU is now 14-9 all-time against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association.
The Panthers open an important four-game homestand Monday night against Division I newcomer Utah Valley State in the Millis Center, followed by Big South contests against 2004 league champ Liberty (Jan. 5), Birmingham-Southern (Jan. 8) and UNC Asheville (Jan. 12). All games start at 7:00 pm.
Click on the link below to see game notes for the HPU/Utah Valley State contest.
