Senior forward Arizona Reid scored a game-high 26 points, but a pair of turnovers in the closing minute proved the difference as High Point dropped a hard-fought 61-55 decision against the Charlotte 49ers in the their season opener on Friday night at Halton Arena.

High Point falls to 0-1 on the year after the loss while Charlotte moves to 1-0. It was the 49ers first win over the Panthers in just the fourth all-time meeting between the two in-state opponents.

HPU led 28-27 at halftime following a hard-nosed opening 20 minutes that resulted in 23 fouls being called. Panther starting center Cruz Daniels was saddled with three quick fouls and spent most of the first half on the bench while Charlotte's top scorer Leemire Goldwire also saw limited action after drawing a trio of whistles.

The Panthers connected on five three-pointers in the first period and shot at a 45.5 percent pace from the floor while holding the 49ers to just a 37.5 percentage. HPU grabbed its largest lead of nine points at 15-6 when Reid hit a jumper at the 13:12 mark to cap a 7-0 run. Charlotte charged back and knotted the score at 18 before Reid sparked an 8-1 surge with seven points including one of his three treys on the night. The 49ers staged a late rally to close the deficit to a single point when Charles Dewhurst drained a jumper just before the buzzer.

After the break, Charlotte gained control of the momentum using a 15-5 run over the first five minutes of the second half to take a 42-33 advantage. Goldwire, who has held scoreless in the opening stanza, got things rolling as he scored eight of the Niners first nine points of the half. Charlotte would build its lead to 12 points (49-37) with just under nine minutes remaining in the game.

At that point, HPU began to claw its way back into the game. Reid connected on back-to-back baskets followed by a jumper from freshman David Campbell and a Reid free throw. Charlotte scored four quick points before Eugene Harris and Reid each drained three-pointers to pull the Panthers to within two points, 52-50, with 2:54 left on the clock.

The 49ers edged their lead to three after a free throw from Charlie Coley, then turned turnovers on HPU's next two possessions into points to gain a seven-point advantage (57-50) with just 48 seconds remaining. Charlotte struggled to put the game away at the charity stripe making just 17 of 36 free throw tries (47.2 percent) and Harris dropped in a long range triple with 19 ticks left to close the deficit to one possession at 58-55. Goldwire was able to finally close the game for Charlotte with a trio of free throws in the waning seconds.

"This was a great challenge in an opening game," said HPU fifth year head coach Bart Lundy. "I think we can learn a lot about our team after tonight's game. Our guys battled hard and we had a chance to win even though we faced a worst case scenario for us with Cruz getting into foul trouble against a big, physical squad. For us to win a game like this we have to take better care of the ball and also not allow our opponents so many second chances with offensive rebounds. It is just one game and we will definitely grow and improve from here."
 
Reid pulled down a game-high 11 boards to record his first double-double of the season and also recorded five steals. Mike Jefferson finished with 11 points for the Panthers and Harris tallied nine points after hitting a trio of three-pointers. Campbell posted seven points and nine rebounds in his collegiate debut.

Goldmire led Charlotte with 16 points, all in the second half, followed by 10 points from Coley, who also led the Niners with nine boads. UNCC forced 21 High Point turnovers for the game while committing 19 of their own.

High Point will catch a cross country flight for their next competition as the Panthers will open play in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday night against Utah in Seattle, Wash.