Box Score BOX SCORE
Postgame with Scott Cherry
Postgame with Tehran Cox

Tehran Cox went coast-to-coast for a layup as time ran out to lift the High Point University men's basketball team to a 63-61 win over Presbyterian College on Thursday night in Clinton, S.C. Nick Barbour led HPU with 25 points, including 13 in the second half, to help HPU overcome a 10-point deficit midway through the second half.

The pair of points as time ran out were Cox's only two in the game. High Point improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big South while Presbyterian dropped to 2-6 and 0-1.

"Tehran is one of our fastest guys with the ball, he can really push it in transition," said High Point head coach Scott Cherry. "Fortunately he made it all the way to the rim with 4.7 seconds left."

"In the second half we really zeroed in on the offensive end of the floor and a couple of guys came off the bench and gave us a lift. Eugene Harris had a couple of good looks and when a guy hits a couple of threes everyone else starts feeling it. David Campbell had a good game, David Singleton had seven assists, Jourdan Morris played a heck of a game. It was a team effort, a complete group effort."

Down 50-40 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second, HPU got a pair of three pointers from Harris and one from Barbour that made it 52-49. After an official timeout, Barbour hit his fifth three-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 and hit another a minute later to make it 55-54.

The teams continued to trade baskets with HPU maintaining a slight margin. Corey Law's (Chesapeake, Va., Deep Creek) dunk made it 57-54 before Presbyterian's Chase Holmes responded with a dunk that made it 57-56. A pair of Barbour free throws were offset by a Jake Troyli jumper with a minute to go.

Barbour made another pair from the charity stripe to push HPU's lead to 61-58 with 33.8 seconds on the clock. The Panthers ran time off the clock but couldn't prevent a Travis Smith three-pointer with 4.6 seconds left on the clock that tied it at 61-61.

Off a full timeout, Cox took the inbounds pass and went all the way up the court for the layup and the High Point University victory.

"I'm really happy with the way the guys responded when we were down in the second half," said Cherry. "They made some shots and made some defensive plays."

Barbour converted an early four-point play and Harris drained a three-pointer shortly after to give HPU a 9-4 lead. Presbyterian followed that with a 12-2 run to take a 16-11 lead on their home court. The Panthers regained a 21-20 lead when Barbour made his second three-pointer 10 minutes later. The teams traded the lead through the remainder of the first half with the Blue Hose taking a 33-30 advantage at halftime.

Presbyterian maintained the lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half, reaching double digits for the first time on Zach Faircloth's pull-up jumper that made it 50-40 with 10:15 to go. That prompted an HPU timeout. HPU's comeback ensued and was capped off by Cox's play in the final second.

Barbour scored over 20 points for the fourth time this season and Singleton's seven assists were a season high. Harris hit three three-pointers for a total of nine and Campbell and Morris each scored eight.

Presbyterian was led by Troyli's 16 points, Holmes added 14 and Khalid Mutakabbir scored 10.

High Point University takes on Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C. on Saturday at 7 p.m. Last year, HPU beat the Eagles in both meetings.