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The High Point University men's basketball team led Wake Forest late into the first half, including a 24-15 lead, but an 11-0 run spanning both halves allowed the Demon Deacons to pull ahead on the way to an 83-60 win in Winston-Salem, N.C., Wednesday night. Sophomore Nick Barbour (Danville, Va./George Washington) led all Panthers' scorers with 15 points while senior Eugene Harris (Pittsburgh, Pa./St. Thomas Moore Prep) contributed 13 points and two steals.

“I'm proud of my guys, they gave a tremendous effort,” said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. “In the first half we executed our game plan, we knew it would be tough in the second half. Wake Forest is a tremendous team … We can take a lot from this game, I think it will help us a lot.”

The Panthers came out on fire, taking a 25-19 lead in the opening 10 minutes. Harris opened the scoring with a three pointer from the left corner as HPU went five-for-eight from behind the arc in the opening minutes. The Panthers swarmed the larger Demon Deacons squad forcing four turnovers and blocking two shots while limiting WFU's scoring opportunities in the post.

The Demon Deacons slowly pulled back into the game, taking their first lead of the night when a Chase McFarland free throw with just 1:58 remaining in the first half made the score 38-37. The lead went back and forth in the closing minutes before an Ishmael Smith floater with 2.7 seconds left gave WFU a 42-39 lead at the break.

High Point shot 43.8 percent (14-for-32) from the floor including seven-for-16 from three-point range in the opening half. Harris led a balanced scoring attack with nine points while junior Earnest Bridges (Raleigh, N.C./Wake Forest-Rolesville) contributed eight points off the bench. The HPU defense finished the half with nine turnovers and four blocks while also holding Wake scoreless from three.

A 7-0 Wake Forest run to open the second half gave the Demon Deacons a 49-39 lead and forced Cherry to call a timeout two minutes into the second period. WFU would push its lead to 12 with 16 minutes left but the Panthers refused to go away as sophomore Barbour scored five straight on a three-pointer and two free throws to pull HPU back within seven.

Despite High Point's best efforts the Demon Deacons began to pull away, outscoring HPU 16-2 to open a 21-point lead with eight minutes remaining.

The High Point defense worked until the end, forcing 18 turnovers with six blocks and seven steals in the game.

Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu led all scorers with 22 points and McFarland was the game's high rebounder, with 12. With the loss, High Point is 1-1 on the young season and Wake Forest improved to 3-0.

The Panthers will return home to play Hampden-Sydney in their next game on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Millis Center. The game is the second of an HPU basketball doubleheader and will follow the women's game against UNC Greensboro, which tips off at 4 p.m.