High Point staved off a furious UNC Asheville rally which forced overtime, and the visiting Panthers hung on in the extra period for a 98-93 win over the Bulldogs in the first round of the 2005 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday night in Asheville.
The sixth-seeded Panthers (13-17) will host No. 7-seeded Charleston Southern in a semifinal Thursday night in the Millis Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.
Jerry Echenique scored 22 points for HPU and set a Big South Tournament record for free throws made and attempted (14-for-18). Danny Gathings tossed in 19 points and Mark Wilson added 15 points for the Panthers.
Echenique's putback of a missed Quick layup with 7.5 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 88-88 and sent the game to overtime. UNCA had erased a 19-point second-half deficit and took an 88-85 lead on a three-point play by Chad Mohn with 46.3 seconds to go.
The Bulldogs' Steven Rush led all scorers with 23 points, including a Tournament-record tying seven three-pointers. K.J. Garland tossed in 22 points and Bryan McCullough added 20 points for UNCA (11-17).
High Point shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half, including a blistering seven-of-10 from behind the arc to open a 20-point lead (48-28) and race to a 50-36 halftime advantage. Landon Quick collected seven of his eight assists in the opening 20 minutes.
The Panthers led by 19 points following two Echenique free throws with 16:23 to play in the second half (59-40). Asheville cut the lead to single-digits for the first time at 67-59 on a layup by Garland with 10:28 to play, but the Panthers pushed the cushion back to 16 points at 78-62 on a trey by Wilson with 7:58 left.
Asheville trailed 82-71 with five minutes left, but stunningly roared back to tie the game on a lay-up by Garland at 85-85 with 1:23 left. UNCA forced a High Point miss on the other end, and Mohn scored on a three-point play to give the Bulldogs an 88-85 edge with 46.3 to play in regulation.
Quick hit one-of-two free throws with 39.3 seconds to cut the lead to 88-86. UNCA ran 20 seconds off the clock before Mohn was fouled with 18 seconds left. Mohn missed both free throws to keep the Bulldog lead at 88-86. After Echenique's layup with 7.5 to play to knot things at 88-88, Rush's trey which would have won it just missed as the horn sounded.
In overtime, Echenique gave the Panthers the lead for good with a free throw at 91-90 with 3:40 left. After both teams missed, Echenique was fouled at the 2:18 mark. He made the first free throw for a 92-90 lead but missed the second. Arizona Reid (seven points, 10 rebounds) corralled the board and fed Gathings, who scored to push the lead to 94-90.
The Bulldogs could get no closer as High Point went 4-of-7 from the free throw line to seal the win and advance.
The Panthers held a 58-51 edge on the boards.
High Point is now 3-0 all-time against UNC Asheville in Big South Tournament play, having defeated the Bulldogs 72-71 in the first round of the 2002 tournament in Roanoke and 63-49 in last season's semifinals in High Point.
The Panthers split the season series with Charleston Southern, which surprised No. 2 seed and defending-Big South champion Liberty 66-60 Tuesday night in Lynchburg.
The Big South's Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
2005 Advance Auto Parts Men's Basketball Championship Bracket
Tuesday, March 1 (at top four seeds)
Game 1: No. 7 Charleston Southern 66, No. 2 Liberty 60
Game 2: No. 6 High Point 98, No. 3 UNC Asheville 93 (OT)
Game 3: No. 1 Winthrop 74, No. 8 Coastal Carolina 62
Game 4: No. 4 Birmingham-Southern 69, No. 5 Radford 40
Thursday, March 3
Game 5: Semifinals – Charleston Southern at High Point, 7:00pm ET; TV: BSTN
Game 6: Semifinals – Birmingham-Southern at Winthrop, 9:07pm ET; TV: C-SET, BSTN
Saturday, March 5 (at highest remaining seed)
Game 7: Championship - HPU/CSU winner at WU/BSC winner, 12:00pm ET; TV: ESPN2
