The High Point University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 59-46 decision to the University of South Florida on Tuesday night at the Sun Dome.

HPU (1-3) held a lead over the Big East squad for the entire first half and battled throughout before falling behind in the closing minutes to the Bulls (2-1). A switching Panther defense held USF's top two scorers well below their season averages in the contest.

Junior Eugene Harris scored 17 points, including five three-pointers, in leading the Panther offense. Junior Cruz Daniels, playing close to his home in Clearwater, Fla., added nine points and recorded three blocked shots. Freshman Nick Barbour added eight points for HPU while fellow freshman David Singleton dished out a personal best six assists. Sophomore Dave Campbell pulled down seven rebounds to pace the Panthers on the glass.

Chris Howard led the Bulls with 14 points while Eladio Espinosa was the game's top rebounder with 10 boards.

"I was very proud of our guys and how hard they played tonight," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "Give credit to South Florida because they made some big plays down the stretch. I thought our team was scrappy and really battled, especially in the first half. We guarded them extremely well during stretches in the game. In the second half, we just went through a spell where we got great looks that just didn't fall for us. We will just build on this performance and continue to work to get better."

High Point got out of the blocks quickly scoring the first five points of the game. USF battled back to knot the score at five, before HPU edged back in front 12-7 on a basket by Barbour with 13:17 left in the period. From that point, the Panthers cooled off from the floor going scoreless for over six minutes of play. However, HPU's defense limited the Bulls to just five points during the stretch keeping the score tied at 12. Jacob Iati drilled a long three-pointer to end the drought for the Panthers.

After a pair of free throws by USF, Harris scored the Panthers next 11 points including back-to-back treys to help push HPU in front by seven, 26-19, with 3:13 remaining in the half. High Point maintained an advantage into the break holding a 28-24 lead at halftime.

The game stayed close up to the first media timeout in the second half with HPU keeping a slight 32-30 lead. The Bulls used a 17-4 run over the next eight minutes of play to gain control of the momentum in the game. Aris Williams sparked the USF surge with eight points in the rally to give the Bulls a 47-36 lead with 8:30 to play.

The Panthers refused to quit scoring eight straight points on a pair of threes by Harris and a dunk from Daniels to close the deficit to just three points, 47-44, at the 5:23 mark. HPU could get no closer as USF converted several free throw attempts in the final minutes to secure the victory.

High Point will make a quick return to action, hosting Montreat College on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Millis Center. The game marks the first in a stretch that keeps the Panthers at home for six of their next seven contests.