Plagued by a tough shooting night, the High Point University men's basketball team dropped their Big South Conference opener against Charleston Southern, 62-52, on Monday night at the Millis Athletic Center.
The Panthers (2-4, 0-1 Big South) shot just 39 percent from the floor for the game including making just two of 26 attempts from beyond the three-point line. Charleston Southern (4-3, 1-0) didn't fare any better from the field shooting only 37 percent for the game, but the Bucs connected on nine treys including six by Jamarco Warren to secure the win.
Warren, the leading scorer in the Big South, finished with a game high 29 points including 26 in the second half. HPU sophomore Earnest Bridges led the Panthers with a career-best 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman David Singleton also reached double-digit points for the first time in his career with 11 points for HPU.
"We got some great looks tonight, but just couldn't get those shots to go in the basket," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "The most disappointing thing was that we allowed our misses to have an affect on the rest of our play. Give credit to Charleston Southern and Jamarco Warren for playing well especially in the second half. We have just got to keep working hard and find a way to get a win."
High Point raced out of the gate scoring the first nine points of the contest and holding a 9-0 lead at the first media timeout. CSU chipped away at the Panther lead and eventually knotted the score at 15 with 6:37 to play in the first half. The two squads combined for just six points over the remainder of the period as High Point held a 19-17 halftime lead thanks to a basket by Dave Campbell at the buzzer.
Both teams struggled to consistently make shots in the first half with Charleston Southern shooting 20 percent and High Point finishing at 32 percent. The two squads went 2-for-23 combined from the three-point line with each team making one trey.
HPU maintained a lead through the first four minutes of the second half before the Bucs rallied with a 19-2 run over a seven-minute stretch. The scoring surge allowed Charleston Southern to open up a 43-28 advantage with 9:16 left in the game. Warren scored 13 points during the run including a trio of three-pointers.
The Bucs built their lead to 18 points (57-39) with 4:35 remaining, but High Point battled back behind an 11-2 run of their own to pull within nine points with two minutes left. The Panthers had two open three-point attempts that would have got them even closer but could not get the shot to fall. CSU made several free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.
High Point continues its busy week on the hardwood at North Carolina Central on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before returning home on Saturday to host Big South newcomer Presbyterian at 7 p.m.
