Despite a career high 25 points from senior Issa Konare, High Point's tying shot at the buzzer rimmed out allowing Liberty to escape with an 83-80 victory at the Vines Center in the Big South Conference opener for both squads.
High Point (7-4, 0-1 Big South) saw its four-game win streak in league openers snapped as Liberty (4-8, 1-0) used a career high 38 points, including a pair of late three-pointers, from Larry Blair to secure the win.
"This was a typical Big South Conference game," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "It is a disappointment losing such a tough battle but we have to be proud of our effort. It took a strong performance from one of the league's best players for them to get the win in their gym. This will hopefully be a learning experience for our young team and we can build on this and find ways to win close games."
HPU got out of the blocks quickly taking a 10-4 lead over the first five minutes of play. Liberty battled back using an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The Panthers answered and regained the lead at 20-18 with just under eight minutes left in the half.
The two squads went back-and-forth over the closing minutes of the frame before the Flames ended the stanza by scoring the final five points for the 37-33 lead. Blair scored 18 points in the period to lead Liberty while Arizona Reid paced the Panthers with 11 points.
The Panthers roared back in front at the start of the second half forcing LU into a timeout just three minutes into the action after outscoring the Flames 10-0 for the 43-37 advantage. Liberty then scored five straight points to close the gap.
High Point pushed ahead by five, 49-44, but Liberty again rallied using a 10-0 spurt of their own to retake the lead, 54-49. HPU chipped away at the deficit eventually knotting the score at 56. From that point, the two squads both took turns with slight leads over the next several minutes.
HPU gained a 71-66 advantage with five minutes remaining only to see the Flames fight back to tie the score at 76 with two minutes left. Konare scored on a layup to put High Point in front only to see Blair answer with a fade-away three with under a minute to go putting LU ahead 79-78.
On the next possession, Akeem Scott chased down a loose ball and attacked the basket making a circus lay-up to regain the lead for HPU. It was Blair again as the junior hit a trey from the right corner with 21 seconds left to put Liberty up 82-80. Scott missed a three-point try with five seconds showing and after a free throw from Damien Hubbard put the Flames up by three it came down to a final shot by HPU's Mike Jefferson that went in-and-out at the buzzer.
Konare finished the game with his second double-double this season adding 13 rebounds to his career high point total. Reid ended the contest with 21 points with Scott chipping in 13 in the loss. Rell Porter scored 13 points as the only other LU player in double figures on the night.
High Point now returns home after a month on the road for a pair of Big South Conference tilts against Charleston Southern on Saturday (7 pm) and Coastal Carolina on Monday (7 pm).
