In a game that took almost 18 hours to complete because of an electrical power outage on the High Point University campus, the HPU Panthers outlasted the Chowan Hawks, 75-59, on Wednesday afternoon at the Millis Center.
Junior Mike Jefferson scored a team-best 16 points to lead a quartet of Panther players in double figures. Jefferson, who also handed out eight assists and had four steals, was joined in double digits by junior Arizona Reid (14), freshman Cruz Daniels (12) and junior Jerald Minnis (10). Reid finished with a game-high 12 rebounds to record his third double-double of the season
Trayvon Lathan scored 17 points to pace Chowan, who also got a double-double performance from Deon Tynes of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"This was by far the toughest 18-hour game I've ever been a part of," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy jokingly. "Seriously though, Chowan is a talented team that played very hard against us. I thought we struggled during the first half of the game last night, but I was proud of how we turned things around today in the second half. I like the focus and determination we played with after the overnight break. Hopefully, we can build on that effort as we move into Friday's game at Maryland."
High Point (3-2) and Chowan (1-2) originally tipped off their game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night and were in the midst of a very competitive game in the first half. The opening half featured 10 lead changes and two ties before the Panthers opened up a 10-point advantage with just over two minutes remaining the half.
With 0:17 left in the first period, HPU's Mike Jefferson connected on a pair of free throws right before all the lights went out in the Millis Athletic Center causing play to be halted. The two squads, officials and fans waited nearly two hours before a decision was made to suspend the game until today. High Point led 41-33 at the point of interruption.
HPU capitalized on the restart outscoring the Hawks 12-4 over the first five minutes of the second half to grab a 16-point edge, 53-37. High Point maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game building as large as a 19-point margin twice in the closing minutes.
The Panthers next travel to College Park, Md., to face the No. 25-ranked Maryland Terrapins in a Thanksgiving matinee game on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the Comcast Center. Friday's game will be televised live by Comcast Sports Net and marks the first of three upcoming road games for HPU against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponents.
