The High Point University men's basketball team remained perfect (10-0) in home openers during their decade as a Division I program after handing Atlanta Christian College a 91-51 defeat on Thursday night in the Millis Athletic Center.
The win moves the Panthers to 1-1 on the year and extends their current non-conference home win streak to 20 games. HPU also improves to 29-2 in the Millis Center since the start of the 2006-07 season. Atlanta Christian slips to 6-3 on the year with the loss.
All 13 High Point players got into the game and scored. Junior Eugene Harris led a trio of Panthers in double-digits with a season best 17 points, including three three-pointers. Freshman guard Nick Barbour also dropped in three triples en route to his first collegiate double-figure performance of 13 points. Junior Cruz Daniels added 10 points and blocked a career-high matching six shots.
After a closely contested six minutes of play, High Point used a 20-3 run over the next seven minutes to break open a 9-9 tie and seize control of the game. The Panthers opened the surge with three straight treys by Harris, Barbour and then Harris again. After a three-pointer from ACC's Tory Wooley, HPU scored 11 consecutive points to grab a 29-12 advantage.
"I think we definitely made some progress tonight," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "At times tonight when we played with high energy we were a pretty good team. It was a good opportunity for our young guys to gain some confidence."
High Point kept the pressure on over the remainder of the period and took a 46-17 lead into the halftime break. The Panthers forced 10 turnovers in the period and shot 56 percent from the field while limiting Atlanta Christian to just 29 percent.
The Panthers continued to build their advantage in the second half holding their largest lead of 45 points, 91-46, with just over a minute left in the game.
In addition to HPU's trio of double-digit scorers, the Panthers also got solid performances from sophomores Dave Campbell (8 pts, 7 rebs) and Earnest Bridges (8 pts, 7 rebs). Sam Vickery scored a basket in his collegiate debut and fellow freshman Rob Huntington also scored his first collegiate points with a pair of layups.
HPU now heads out of town for a pair of challenging road contests. The Panthers visit in-state foe North Carolina State on Saturday night before travelling to Tampa to face South Florida on Tuesday. High Point's next home game is against Montreat College on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
