James Collins scored 25 points and Thomas Viglianco tossed in 22 points to help Birmingham-Southern hold off High Point, 74-73, Thursday night in a regionally-televised Big South Conference men's basketball clash of Panthers at Bill Battle Coliseum.
Akeem Scott tied his career-high with 21 points for HPU, which dropped its fourth-straight game and fell to 10-14 on the season (5-6 in Big South play). BSC improved to 12-10 (5-6 in the League).
High Point erased a nine-point second-half deficit to draw even late on three seperate occasions, but could not get over the hump. Five of HPU's six Big South losses have come by three points or less.
Zione White (14 points) and Jerry Echenique (12 points, all in the second half) also reached double figures for High Point. Jakob Sigurdarson contributed 11 points for BSC.
Trailing 70-67, High Point had a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds to play, but Scott's three-point attempt fell short, Collins grabbed the rebound, and BSC hit four free throws to seal the win. Echenique hit his first-career three-point basket at the buzzer to cut the final margin to one.
"I can't fault our effort," HPU head coach Bart Lundy said. "After our other three losses, I didn't have the same feeling I have now. We battled, and made some mental errors, but we fought out there tonight."
High Point and Birmingham-Southern are now part of a four-way tie for fifth place in the Big South with UNC Asheville and Radford (all 5-6). The quartet is just one game behind current third-place holders Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina (both 6-5).
HPU made just three of its first 12 shots from the floor and trailed 15-7 after BSC used an 8-0 run which featured a three-pointer and short jumper by Viglianco at the 7:56 mark.
But High Point came back with a 13-4 run to grab its first lead (20-19) when Titus Byrd put back a missed shot with 3:41 left in the first half.
Viglianco (who had 14 first-half points) nailed back-to-back threes in the final minute to give BSC a 31-25 lead before Scott (who provided 11 first-half points of his own) banked in a trey just before the buzzer to cut BSC's halftime edge to 31-28.
BSC built its biggest lead at 42-33 four minutes into the final period after Collins drained a trey. High Point chipped away and went on a 10-2 run to tie the score at 49-49 when Arizona Reid found Echenique under the basket, resulting in an easy layup and free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play with 8:04 to go.
The teams then traded baskets before Collins connected from long range for a 56-53 BSC edge with 5:04 left. The black-and-gold clad Panthers pushed their lead to seven points at 68-61 with 1:20 left, but HPU would not go away. Back-to-back threes by White (the last with 37.9 seconds left) pulled High Point within 69-67.
Collins was fouled and made the first free throw but missed the second, and White corralled the board. The Panthers rushed upcourt and Scott had a long-range look from the right corner which would have tied the score, but it bounced off the rim and into the hands of Collins. After two tosses gave BSC a 72-67 cushion, Byrd connected from outside with 4.8 to play.
Siguardarson put the finishing touches on the victory with a pair of foul shots with 3.9 to go.
High Point outshot Birmingham-Southern from both the field overall (49 percent to 48 percent) and behind the arc (44 percent to 33 percent). BSC outscored HPU 23-12 from the foul line.
HPU opens a short two-game homestand Saturday afternoon against Coastal Carolina (3:30 pm) before hosting Charleston Southern Monday night.
