The High Point defense held Longwood to a single point for over seven minutes and junior Arizona Reid scored the go ahead basket with just five seconds remaining as the Panthers rallied for a 59-57 victory on Wednesday night at the Millis Athletic Center.
HPU, who improved to 6-3 on the season with the win, trailed for most of the second half and overcame a double-digit deficit in the final eight minutes of play to remain undefeated at home. The loss was the fourth straight for Longwood dropping the Lancers to 3-7 on the year.
Reid finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers. It was his fourth double-double this season. Mike Jefferson also scored 16 points and handed out four assists including the game-winning helper to Reid. Jerald Minnis added 10 points in the win.
Longwood's Maurice Sumter paced all scorers with 18 points and Kirk Williams chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lancers.
"This was a tough game for us tonight," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "Playing our third game in five days really took its toll on us, especially on the offensive end. I thought the team showed a great deal of heart and really buckled down defensively to spark the closing run. That effort is the kind that makes for special seasons. I was proud of our focus and confidence down the stretch. This was a big growing experience for us."
The Panthers raced out of the blocks scoring the game's first nine points. Longwood finally got on the board at the 15:28 mark with a three-pointer by Husein Pistoljevic, sparking a 13-2 Lancer surge that gave them their first lead at 13-11 at 12:24.
The two teams traded the lead over the next several minutes until Longwood opened up a five-point advantage (27-22) with just under five minutes to play in the opening half. High Point closed the gap to a single point, but a lay-up by Clayton Morgan just before the opening period buzzer sent the Lancers into the break up by a 31-28 count.
Longwood pushed ahead by 11 points at 41-30 at 14:54 as High Point connected on just one of its first nine shots of the second half. HPU slowly cut into the deficit behind a more aggressive full-court defensive pressure. The Panthers got to within three points before the Lancers answered back to again lead by 10 points (56-46) with 7:10 remaining.
High Point's defense took over from that point, limiting Longwood to just one Williams' free throw for the remainder of the game. In the closing minutes, Minnis scored a layup at 2:22 to get High Point to within four followed by a three-pointer by Jefferson at 1:38.
Both teams missed shot attempts setting up the drama of the final seconds. After running down a long rebound, Jefferson drove the ball into the lane and drew a pair of LU defenders before dropping off a pass to Reid on the left block. Reid finished the play giving HPU their first lead of the half at 58-57. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw for the final margin. Longwood failed to get a shot attempt off in the final five seconds.
HPU shot just 35.6 percent from the field for the game including a 5-for-20 performance from the three-point line. Longwood earned a 38-35 edge in rebounding but committed 20 turnovers. The two teams are slated to play a rematch on Jan. 28 in Farmville, Va.
After a three-game homestand, the Panthers hit the road for their next game when they visit No. 3-ranked North Carolina at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
