The High Point University men's basketball team mounted a strong second half surge but it came up short in a 71-57 loss to the Towson Tigers on Saturday night in the Millis Athletic Center.

Redshirt freshman Alquan Mendenhall connected on four three-pointers and scored a career-high 14 points for High Point (4-6). Junior Eugene Harris paced the Panthers with 15 points and freshman Nick Barbour chipped in 10 points.

The Tigers (5-5) were led by senior Junior Hairston, a native of Lexington, N.C., who scored 17 points.

The loss for High Point marked just the second non-conference home defeat in head coach Bart Lundy's six-year tenure. It also snapped the Panthers 22-game non-conference home win streak.

After the two squads battled back-and-forth early in the game, Towson used a 9-0 run to surge in front 16-5 with 13:46 left to play in the first half. The Tigers were able to slowly build on their lead while holding High Point scoreless from the field over the final five minutes of the period. Towson closed the half on an 11-1 run taking a 40-19 advantage into the halftime break.

High Point turned up their defensive pressure midway through the second half. Trailing by 19 with 13:55 left, the Panthers clawed their way back into the game behind a 17-6 rally over a seven-minute span. Mendenhall drilled a pair of treys, Harris connected from long distance and Steadman Short collected a pair of rebound layups as HPU pulled to within eight points, 54-46, with just over seven minutes remaining. HPU also forced four turnovers during the surge.

The Panthers kept battling but could get no closer as Towson quieted the HPU rally with a 12-2 scoring spree late in the second half.

High Point outscored Towson 38-31 in the second half while connecting on seven three-pointers in the half. The Tigers earned a slight 37-33 edge in rebounding for the game and outshot the Panthers 21-6 from the free throw line.

HPU will take a week off from competition for semester exams before closing out their current four-game home stand against Youngstown State on Friday night.