Twenty-nine points and nine rebounds from High Point senior Arizona Reid wasn't enough to overcome a blistering shooting performance by Gardner-Webb in an 86-71 loss at Porter Arena on Tuesday night.

The Panthers, who slipped to 2-3 after having their two-game win streak snapped, kept things close for much of the first half but were unable to trim an 11-point halftime deficit. Gardner-Webb (5-4), who will join the Big South Conference next season, captured their second straight home victory after connecting on 59 percent from the floor for the game.

With the loss, HPU falls to 16-18 all-time against GWU.

The Runnin' Bulldogs raced out to an early 11-2 lead over the first four minutes of play in front of a raucous crowd of 2,380. The Panthers clawed their way back behind 10 straight points from Reid to knot the score at 20 with 9:48 to play in the opening frame. Mike Jefferson added a layup and Reid scored again to give HPU their first and only lead of the contest at 24-20.

Gardner-Webb built their lead back to 11 points, 40-29, with just over two minutes to play and again HPU battled back to trim the deficit to just five with six consecutive points in a little more than a minute. Grayson Flittner scored six of his team-high 20 points in the final 30 seconds to send GWU into the break with a 46-35 advantage. Flittner connected on a three-pointer and also made three free throws after drawing a shooting foul on a near half court heave attempt at the buzzer.

"We have just got to find a way to be more successful on the road," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "They were able to make some plays against us tonight especially at times when we seemed to be in position to make a charge. Our team has to go back home and get back to work and get better."

High Point closed the gap to six points with 12:40 left in the game but was unable to get any closer as Gardner-Webb was able to maintain a near double-digit advantage for the remainder of the frame.

For the game, HPU shot 42 percent from the floor (26-61) and made seven three-pointers. Gardner Webb made 16 of 27 field goal attempts in each half and drained 8 of 13 shots from long range (61.5 percent). The two squads battled to a draw on the glass with each team pulling down 32 rebounds.

In addition to Reid's strong performance, High Point got 10 points from sophomore Tim Burns. Jefferson had nine points, seven rebounds and a season-best nine assists. Sophomore Eugene Harris also finished with nine points. The Bulldogs had five players reach double-digits with Thomas Sanders tallying a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.

High Point continues its current three-game road swing on Saturday at 2 p.m., with a trip to Longwood University in Farmville, Va.