(Story combined from HPU Staff and AP)

A furious second half rally by High Point (8-8, 1-2 Big South) came up just short in a hard-fought 66-61 loss to Coastal Carolina (9-7, 2-1) on a snowy Saturday night in the Millis Athletic Center in front of a crowd of 2,008.

Senior Arizona Reid had 25 points and 12 rebounds for HPU while CCU senior Jack Leasure finished with 33 points including 8 treys.

The loss snapped a 10-game home win streak for the Panthers, who have now won 25 of their last 27 at the MACC. The win was also the first road win of the year for Coastal Carolina, who had been 0-6.

Reid's Big South leading 12th double-double kept the Panthers in the game, and his shot in the lane with 1:10 left cut Coastal Carolina's lead to 63-61. He climbed to 3rd on the all-time Big South rebounding list with 849.

Leasure, who was one point shy of his career high, shot 8-for-15 from 3-point range for the Chanticleers, who nearly blew a 20-point second-half lead.

David Campbell had 13 points and Eugene Harris 11 for High Point. Mario Sisinni hit four 3s and added 12 points for Coastal Carolina.

Both teams struggled to get in synch in the opening half with Coastal taking a 29-22 lead into the halftime break. The Panthers were just 2-16 (12.5 percent) from the 3-point line against a pesky 1-3-1 zone defense by Coastal in the first period while the Chants drained seven first half triples to help build their lead.

Coastal Carolina got things going early in the second half as High Point continued to struggle shooting the ball. Leasure hit two free throws with just over 10 minutes left to give the Chanticleers a 53-33 lead, their largest advantage of the night.
 
That's when HPU began its comeback using a 14-0 run to close the game to just six points (53-47) in under three minutes of play. Coastal again pushed back in front by double digits leading by 12, 63-51, with 3:19 to play.

However, 10 straight points by HPU including back-to-back treys from Campbell and Harris and capped by a Reid layup closed the deficit to two points with just over a minute to play.

After the Chanticleers turned it over for the 10th time in the second half, Tim Burns missed a go-ahead 3-point attempt for High Point with 0:24 left before Steven Sexton's free throws iced the win for Coastal Carolina.

High Point continues its current three-game home stand on Monday when they welcome Charleston Southern to the Millis Center at 7 p.m. Coastal Carolina travels to Lynchburg, Va., to face Liberty on Monday night.