A young High Point Panther squad went toe-to-toe against Big South Conference favorite Winthrop's veteran group on Saturday night and came up just short as the Eagles escaped the Millis Athletic Center with a 70-67 victory.
The loss drops High Point to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big South and also marked their first home loss of the season (5-1). For the Panthers it was also the first time this year that they had lost back-to-back games. Winthrop improved to 12-4 (6-0 Big South) and extended their win streak versus league opponents to 24 games.
Arizona Reid led the way for the Panthers finishing with 24 points and 11 rebounds marking his fourth straight double-double and eighth of the season. Akeem Scott posted 15 points to also reach double digits for HPU.
Preseason Big South Player of the Year, Torrell Martin, led a trio of Eagles in double figures scoring a game-high 27 points including making 6-of-10 three-point attempts. Craig Bradshaw and James Shuler each chipped in 12 points for Winthrop.
"This was a great college basketball game played in a great atmosphere," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy about the record crowd of 2,441 at the Millis on Saturday night. "Our kids showed a lot of heart especially in the second half and I feel like our young team did some growing up tonight. It is a tough game to lose but I really liked our effort and determination against a very talented team."
Winthrop's defense held the High Point offense scoreless over the first five minutes of the game, but the Eagles weren't able to take advantage of the Panther's woes as they posted just five points of their own during the stretch. After a Scott layup put HPU in front 6-5, Winthrop used a 12-2 spurt to gain an early advantage.
Minutes later High Point answered with a 9-0 run of its own to regain the lead in the half, 21-20 with just over seven minutes to play. The Eagles scored the next eight points and then held on to take a 34-28 lead into the lockeroom at halftime.
Martin got things rolling for the Eagles to start the second half scoring 12 straight Eagle points on a succession of long-range shots. After a pair of Martin free throws at 16:11, Winthrop held it largest lead in the game of 17 points at 49-32.
High Point turned things up defensively and slowly began cutting into the deficit. HPU scored 11 straight points to trim the gap to just six points (49-43) on a three-point play by Scott with 11:33 remaining. Winthrop would build its lead back to 10 points (56-46) only to see the Panthers roar back behind a 14-3 run to grab a 60-59 edge with 4:35 left.
Shuler hit a pair of free throws and Bradshaw drained a three to retake the lead for the Eagles and after a layup by Scott, Martin dropped in his six trey of the game to put Winthrop in front, 67-62, with just over two minutes on the clock. Mike Jefferson drained a three-pointer for HPU to pull to within two at 69-67 with seven ticks left and then had a buzzer-beating three-pointer bounce out after Martin made one of two free throws for the final margin.
"Our team found something in the final 15 minutes tonight," added Lundy. "Hopefully, we can take that same energy and play like that from the opening tip on Monday night. It would also be great to have that same type of crowd come out to the game."
For the game, High Point made eight more baskets (27-19) but was outscored from the three-point arc 11-4. Winthrop also enjoyed a 31-13 edge in free throws attempted, with the Eagles scoring 21 points from the charity stripe compared to only nine for the Panthers. HPU forced 25 turnovers by Winthrop while committing 23 of their own and the Panthers also lost a close 36-30 decision on the glass.
High Point makes a quick turnaround as the Panthers welcome Birmingham-Southern to town on Monday at 7 p.m. The league's other Panthers come in on a roll owning a 12-5 overall record and a 5-1 mark in league play having won five straight games including a 61-51 victory at Liberty on Saturday night.
