Playing on Valentine's Eve, the High Point University men's basketball team showed determination and great heart in handing Big South leading UNC Asheville an 80-71 loss on Wednesday night in front of a packed Millis Center crowd.

With the win, High Point improved to 14-10 overall and 6-4 in Big South play while also upping their record at home to 11-1 this season. The loss marked the second in a row for the Bulldogs, who slip to 18-6 and 7-2.

The Panthers avenged an early loss at Asheville by blistering the nets a 58.3 percent clip including a sizzling 16-for-24 (66.7 percent) performance in the first half. The Bulldogs struggled from the floor connecting on just 37.9 percent, but were able to stay competitive thanks to 20 offensive rebounds and 25 second chance points.

HPU senior Arizona Reid led the charge for the Panthers finishing with 32 points and eight rebounds. It was his second 30-point outing of the year and the seventh of his career. Sophomore Eugene Harris chipped in a near season-best 19 points with senior Mike Jefferson and sophomore Cruz Daniels each adding eight points. Jefferson, who ranks second in the nation in assists, handed out nine helpers in the victory while Daniels, the league's top shot blocker in conference play, added five swats to his season total.

UNC Asheville, playing without leading scorer Bryan Smithson and a very limited 7'7 Kenny George, got 21 points and seven rebounds from Reid Augst and 16 points from Greensboro native K.J. Garland. All of Augst caroms came on the offensive end of the court.

"This was a good win for our team," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy, who recorded his 199th career victory with the win. "I thought we did some really good things especially on offense. We executed very well especially in the first half against a very good Asheville squad. I was disappointed in our rebounding effort and I would have also liked to have seen us perform at the end of the game more consistently. Overall, I'm proud of the guys and their hard work in earning this victory."

The Bulldogs held a slight 6-5 lead early in the first half thanks to a pair of George buckets, before High Point used an 8-0 run to grab a lead they would never relinquish. Earnest Bridges, Reid, Daniels and Harris all scored in the Panther flurry. UNCA cut the deficit to three points on two occasions, but High Point continued to make shots eventually building a lead as large as nine points in the first half. HPU scored the final two baskets of the opening stanza to hold a 37-29 lead at the break.

High Point scored the first seven points of the second half including six from Reid, who tallied 22 points in the closing 20 minutes. Asheville closed to within seven points, 51-44, on a pair of Augst's free throws with 11:00 remaining. However, Reid again sparked a scoring run by the Panthers hitting a jumper and three-pointer back-to-back allowing HPU to open up a double-digit advantage.

Asheville continued to battle but could never get closer than seven points as High Point held off a late UNCA surge by making 12 of 14 free throw tries in the final minute to earn the final margin of victory.

The Panthers, who close the regular season playing four of their final five games on the road, begin a three-game road swing this weekend on the Big South "Beach Trip". HPU visits Charleston Southern on Saturday before playing at Coastal Carolina on Monday night. UNC Asheville hosts VMI on Saturday night.