Sparked by a near career-high performance by High Point University senior Melvin Crowder, the HPU men's basketball team took VMI down to the wire on Saturday night before dropping a hard fought 81-76 decision in their home finale at the Millis Athletic Center.

Crowder, the squad's lone senior, finished one point shy of his career high scoring 14 points including 11 in the second half in his final home appearance for High Point (9-20, 4-14 Big South). Crowder made five of his seven shot attempts including hitting four three-pointers.

VMI (22-7, 13-5) held off a late Panther rally to earn their first victory in the Millis Center behind 19 points from senior Chavis Holmes. The Keydets, who entered the night 0-6 in High Point, were held well below their NCAA leading scoring average for the season (94.8 ppg).

"I was very proud of our determination tonight," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "We just refused to quit and again gave ourselves a chance to win the game in the final minute. This team is really showing a great deal of heart over the past few weeks. I am glad that we are going to be able to continue playing in the Big South Tournament. I also want to not only thank Melvin Crowder for his commitment during his career but also commend him for his inspired performance tonight in his final home game."

Following a closely contested opening half that featured three ties and seven lead changes, VMI appeared to seize control of the momentum with an 8-0 run at the start of the second half. The Keydets, who led 38-32 at the break, pushed their lead to 22 points (41-63) with 11:20 left in the game.

At that point, HPU began chipping away at their deficit on the strength of the play from Nick Barbour and Cruz Daniels. Barbour scored five straight points to cap a 7-0 spurt by the Panthers while Daniels blocked a shot and had a few rebounds in the surge. VMI held a 12-point advantage with just over two minutes remaining but HPU scored the next eight points to make the score 78-74 with 29 seconds left. Crowder hit a trey to start the run followed by a Dave Campbell free throw and back-to-back putback baskets by Daniels.

High Point cut the deficit to three on a layup by David Singleton with three seconds left, but Chavis Holmes made a pair of free throws to secure the victory for VMI.

In support of Crowder's solid night, Barbour scored a team-high 15 points to record his 11th consecutive double-digit performance.  Daniels finished with 14 points and a snatched a career best 20 rebounds. It marked the sixth double-double of the year for Daniels, who also became the first Panther player with 20 rebounds in a game since Arizona Reid hauled down a Big South record 25 boards versus VMI on Feb. 24, 2007. Singleton just missed a triple-double in the game with 10 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.

For the game, VMI made 13 three-pointers and forced 25 HPU turnovers. The Panthers won the battle of the boards earning a 56-37 rebounding advantage.

Despite the loss, High Point secured the No. 8 seed in the upcoming Big South Tournament and will open postseason play at No. 1 seed Radford on Tuesday at 7 p.m.