The High Point Panther men's basketball team escaped with a 73-71 road victory over long-time rival Elon on Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.
High Point, who improved to 5-2 with the win, rallied from a nine-point deficit in the first half and fended off a late surge by the Phoenix (2-6) to earn the victory. HPU has now matched the program's best season start in their NCAA Division I tenure, a 5-2 opening in the 1999-2000 campaign.
Sophomore Arizona Reid again led the way for the Panthers finishing with 18 points and six rebounds, both team leading totals. However, seniors Issa Konare and Akeem Scott along with freshman Justin Dunn all proved instrumental in aiding HPU to the victory in the longest running series in program history.
"This is a great win for our team," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "We struggled at times but we continued to battle and we found a way to make some huge plays down the stretch and earn an important road victory. I thought we had some huge defensive stops at the end and that was the real key for us. Our seniors, Issa and Akeem, really led us defensively. I was also proud of how Justin Dunn stepped up tonight."
In addition to Reid, High Point also got double-figure point production from Dunn (15 points), Konare (14 points) and Scott (11 points). HPU's defense forced 20 turnovers by Elon, including 11 steals, which resulted in 19 Panther points. Sophomore Jerald Minnis also tallied a career high seven points off the bench.
Jackson Atoyebi recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Phoenix. Montell Watson finished with 14 points and Brett James added 11. Elon shot 50 percent from the floor (28-56) and out-rebounded the Panthers, 38-27.
The first half featured runs by both teams. High Point used a 9-4 spurt early in the opening half to take their largest lead of the game at 18-12. Elon answered with a 15-0 run to hold a 27-18 advantage with 6:44 left in the first period. After going scoreless for over five minutes of play, HPU got back on track out-scoring the Phoenix, 18-5, to close the half and take a 36-32 lead into the break.
The two squads went back-and-forth against each other for most of the second half with neither team holding larger than a four-point advantage. There were eight ties and six lead changes in the frame setting up the frantic finish over the final three minutes.
Konare scored a lay-up with 2:31 remaining to put High Point in front 70-67. On Elon's next possession, Konare was whistled for a foul against Phoneix leading scorer Atoyebi, who sank a pair of free throws to trim the margin to one.
With 1:55 left, Dunn seemed to block a lay-up attempt by EU's James only to be called for an intentional foul. James made both shots putting Elon up, 71-70, but Scott recorded one of his career-high tying seven steals on the ensuing possession to keep the deficit at one.
Following an HPU turnover, Konare swatted a shot attempt by Brian Waters with 0:52 showing on the clock starting a fastbreak opportunity for the Panthers. Reid missed a fade-away jumper, but Dunn out-jumped everyone for the tip-in putback giving High Point a 72-71 edge at the 0:44 mark.
With 28 ticks remaining, Scott intercepted another Elon pass and drove the ball to the basket drawing an EU foul. He made the first of his two free throw attempts putting HPU ahead by two, 73-71. The Phoenix Chris Chalko missed a wide-open three-point attempt with 0:05 left and Dunn forced a jump ball after tying up Atoyebi for the rebound. A traveling call on the HPU inbounder gave Elon a final chance, but Atoyebi's jumper from the middle of the lane bounced out and High Point held on for the victory.
The Panthers will now take 10 days off from competition as the players participate in fall semester exams next week. HPU visits Longwood University on Dec. 17 for their lone game in a 21-day stretch as High Point will also have 11 more days off over the Christmas holiday
