The High Point men's basketball team used some stingy defense to finally cool off a hot-shooting Western Carolina squad in a come-from-behind, 73-66, victory on Saturday night at the Millis Athletic Center.

The Panthers (3-1) trailed for much of the opening period as WCU (2-5) scorched the nets at a 66.7 percent pace (14 of 21) including hitting four of five trey tries in the first half. The Catamounts led by as much as nine points twice in the first period and seemed to hit a big shot every time HPU made a charge.

Leading 41-35 at the break, Western Carolina would extend its advantage to 55-46 with just over 16 minutes to play on a dunk by Corey Muirhead. From that point, the Panther defense took control of the game forcing turnovers and holding the Catamount attack scoreless until Antonio Russell connected on a pair of free throws with 2:58 showing on the clock.

"I am extremely proud of how we continued to battle and turned up our defensive pressure in the second half," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "We were also fortunate that Western began missing some of the shots they made so easily in the first half. It looked like they were a little tired during that stretch."

During the WCU drought, High Point outscored the visitors 19-0 to take a 65-55 lead. Several players aided the run with freshman Justin Dunn scoring all of his eight points during the stretch including a pair of three-pointers. Sophomore Terrance Stokes gave HPU its first lead, 57-55, of the second half with a layup at the 8:17 mark.  The Panthers were a perfect six-for-six from the free throw line in the closing two minutes to ice the victory.

Sophomore Arizona Reid again was the offensive leader for High Point finishing with a career-high matching 24 points. Reid just missed his third consecutive double-double after hauling down a team best nine rebounds. Senior Akeem Scott finished with 19 points including a trio of three-pointers and also handed out four assists. Fellow senior Issa Konare chipped in 10 points in the win. Landon Quick added eight points and Dunn also paced the squad with five assists.

Russell scored 18 points to lead a trio of Catamounts in double digits. Kyle Greathouse knocked down four treys en route to 14 points and Muirhead ended the night with 12. Negus McKenna led the way on the glass for WCU with six rebounds.

For the game, WCU shot 48.9 percent from the floor (33.3 percent in the second half) while HPU connected at a 46.2 percent pace. The Panthers earned a slight 30-29 edge on the boards and forced Western into 20 turnovers while committing just 16 of their own.  HPU was able to score 24 points off of WCU's miscues on the night.

"This was a great win for a young team," added Lundy. "To be able to fight back and make defensive stops in the second half was huge for us. We still have some things to work on in finishing out a game, but overall this was a step forward for our group."