Mike Jefferson scored a game-high 21 points and Arizona Reid posted his 10th double-double of the season but its wasn't enough for the High Point men's basketball team as they dropped a disappointing 69-64 decision to Longwood in Willett Hall on Sunday night.
The loss dropped the Panthers to 15-7 this season and snapped their three game road win streak. It also marked their second consecutive loss. Longwood ended a six-game losing slide with the win improving to 7-16 this year.
High Point was hampered all night by turnovers committing 15 miscues, including 12 in the first half, which led to 20 Lancer points. Longwood shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half to overcome a halftime deficit.
"I was very disappointed in our effort tonight especially on the defensive end," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "This was an important game for us as it relates to our season goals. We have to get refocused and recommitted to the things that made us successful earlier this year. We have to learn and move on from this performance."
The Panthers got the early lead 9-4 behind five quick points from Jefferson. Longwood battled back to tie the score at 12 by the second media timeout of the opening stanza. High Point took an eight point advantage, its largest of the game, on a jumper by Matt Boswell with just over four minutes to play in the half. The Lancers would score eight of the next nine points to close the gap to one point before Melvin Crowder hit a running jump shot at the buzzer to give HPU a 31-28 edge at the break.
Reid, who faced double and triple teams most of the night, pulled down 12 of his game best 14 boards in the first half while scoring just six points in the opening stanza. He finished the night with 18 points including going 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
High Point forced an early Lancer timeout in the second half when the Panthers extended their lead back to eight points, 40-28, just two minutes into the action. HPU maintained a lead for the next several minutes before Longwood scored six straight points to grab a three-point lead with eight minutes left.
Jefferson tied the game at 53 with one of his five three-pointers in the game with 6:14 showing on the clock. The two teams went back-and-forth over the next few minutes of play until Maurice Sumter, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lancers, scored a pair of buckets to give Longwood a 63-59 lead with 1:20 left on the clock.
Reid trimmed the margin to two with a pair of free throws, but Brandon Giles hit a leaning floater with the shot clock winding down to put the Lancers back in front by four. Jefferson drilled a trey from well beyond the three-point line with 24 seconds left to pull the Panthers within one, 65-64, but HPU would get no closer as Longwood made four free throws to ice the game in the closing seconds.
High Point continues its current four-game road swing with a return visit to the Commonwealth of Virginia on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Panthers visit Big South rival Radford.
