UNC Asheville erased a 12-point second-half deficit and used an 18-2 run late to pull away for an 89-77 victory over High Point Saturday in Big South Conference men's basketball action at the Justice Center.
The Panthers (10-12, 5-4 Big South) saw a second-half lead of nine or more points disappear for the sixth time this season. UNCA improves to 8-13 (5-5 in League play).
HPU led 54-42 with 11:26 left and 66-60 with 6:02 to go before the Bulldogs made their charge.
Five Panthers scored in double-figures, led by 17 from Zione White. Akeem Scott and Jerry Echenique each tallied 11 points, while Mark Wilson and Arizona Reid (whose total was a career high) tossed in 10 points apiece.
UNCA got 20 points apiece from K.J. Garland and Bryan McCullough. Chad Mohn (17 points, 13 rebounds) recorded a double-double for the Bulldogs.
HPU's Danny Gathings was held to a season-low six points. The Panthers committed a season-high 29 turnovers.
Asheville made 31 of 38 free throws (81.6 percent), while High Point converted just 10 of its 20 charity tosses. A total of 52 fouls were whistled in the contest.
Despite the loss, HPU maintains sole possession of third place in the Big South following Charleston Southern's 66-56 loss to Radford at home Saturday.
The Bulldogs scored seven of the game's first eight points and jumped out to a 14-7 lead after Steven Rush netted a pair of foul shots at the 12:50 mark. But the Panthers responded with a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to grab a 21-16 lead. The run featured a pair of three-pointers by Titus Byrd.
HPU, which committed 17 first-half turnovers, managed just two field goals in the final 7:06 of the opening period. UNCA took a 28-26 lead into the break, marking the first time in 12 contests the Panthers had trailed at halftime.
But High Point raced out of the second-half gates on a 9-0 run, punctuated by a four-point play by White at the 18:28 mark which gave the Panthers a 35-28 lead. High Point scored 14 of the first 16 points of the final frame and hit its first six three-point attempts after halftime to push its lead to double-digits at 40-30.
The Panthers built 12-point leads on two different occasions in the second-half, first at 49-37 with 14:02 left and then at 54-42 following a trey by Gathings with 11:26 to go.
UNCA hung around, though, and pulled within 64-60 on two Mohn free throws with 6:22 left. Echenique tipped in a bucket at the other end to make it 66-60 before the Bulldogs rattled off 12 straight points as part of a 14-2 run to surge ahead, 72-66, with 3:29 to play. McCullough scored eight of UNCA's 14 points in that span.
HPU would get within 72-70 on a layup by Wilson with 2:32 to go, but Mohn made a huge play on the other end when he tipped in a missed three-pointer by Omar Collington, drew a foul in the process and converted the foul shot for a 75-70 lead. The Panthers then missed a three-pointer and were forced to foul Oliver Holmes, who made it 77-70 with 1:30 left.
Scott got HPU within 79-75 on a three-pointer with 49.1 seconds to play, but the Bulldogs converted nine of their final 10 free throw attempts to seal the win and earn a split of the season series. High Point claimed a 92-73 victory in the Millis Center on Jan. 12.
Saturday's game opened a stretch of five games in nine days for the Panthers, who get a visit from Big South-leading Winthrop Tuesday night (7:00 pm) in a contest rescheduled from Jan. 29 (when wintry weather prevented the Eagles from making the trip north).
