The High Point men's basketball squad rode a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double effort by senior forward Issa Konare to an impressive 78-49 victory against the Liberty Flames on Saturday night at the Millis Center in front of a season high crowd of 2,009.

The game was the final home game for the Panthers this season as HPU finishes the regular season at 15-12 and 8-8 in the Big South Conference. With the loss, Liberty slips to 7-22 overall and 3-13 in the Big South. The Flames also finish the regular season winless on the road at 0-13.

Konare along with fellow senior Akeem Scott were making their final home appearance on Saturday night. The 6-8 forward from Senegal saved one of his best performances for his last posting just the third double-double of his HPU career. Scott, who scored a career high 31 against Winthrop on Thursday night, finished with nine points and two steals.

Liberty's Larry Blair led all scorers with 31 points but got most of those later in the second half after High Point had already grabbed control of the momentum. Damien Hubbard added 10 points and just two other Liberty players out of the 11 that saw game action scratched the scoring column.

"I thought we were very intense to start the game and really rode the emotions of our seniors," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "We lost a little focus midway through the first half but were able to close the half with some momentum. We played tremendous team defense especially in the second half and played very determined. This was a great win and a wonderful way to send our seniors out at home."

Konare wasted little time in getting things going for the Panthers scoring the first eight points for the team hitting a pair of three-pointers and dropping in a layup as High Point opened up an early 12-2 advantage. High Point eventually cooled off as Liberty roared back using a 10-0 run to grab the lead 19-18 with 6:25 left in the first half.

The two sides swapped baskets for several minutes until HPU closed the frame with a 9-0 spurt holding a 35-27 edge at the break. Konare finished the frame with 10 points and three blocked shots while Blair totaled 16 points.

The Panthers maintained their momentum to start the second half scoring the first two buckets to push their lead to 12 points. High Point poured it on offensively building its lead as large as 32 points, 70-38, with 4:28 left to play. Both teams emptied their benches in the closing minutes as HPU cruised to the 29-point win.

In addition to the strong play from Konare, HPU freshman Justin Dunn also had another solid outing finishing with 13 points and a career-best 8 rebounds. Sophomore standout Arizona Reid scored 11 points, pulled down eight boards and also had five assists and three steals on the night. Landon Quick also reached double figures chipping in 10 points.

For the game, High Point out-rebounded the Flames 43-32 and forced Liberty into 22 turnovers. HPU shot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the floor including a 54 percent (17-31) performance in the second half while LU finished at 36 percent making just 30 percent (7-23) in the second half. The Panthers limited Liberty to only 22 points in the closing period, including 15 from Blair.

Both teams now turn their attention to the Big South Conference tournament which opens play on Tuesday night with four quarterfinal contests. High Point, the No. 5 seed, travels to No. 4 Radford while No. 8 Liberty visits top-seeded Winthrop. Other first round games include No. 7 UNC Asheville at No. 2 Coastal Carolina and No. 6 Charleston Southern at No. 3 Birmingham-Southern.