BOX SCORE
Postgame with Scott Cherry

Senior Eugene Harris scored 19 points, including a pair of three-pointers and a pair of free throws in the final minute but the High Point University men's basketball team lost to Charleston Southern, 73-69, on Thursday night in Charleston, S.C. Sophomores Nick Barbour and David Singleton each scored 11 points for HPU.

"We had not a lot of movement and we forced up some bad shots in the second half," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "For whatever reason we lost focus and didn't do what we had been doing for the last five games. Credit Charleston Southern, they made an adjustment and did a good job tonight."

After the loss, High Point is 9-7 overall and 4-2 in the Big South while Charleston Southern improved to 9-8 overall and 4-3 in the Big South.

Scoring was hard to come by in the first several minutes of the game with strong defensive play. Corey Law rejected a shot by CSU's Kelvin Martin before a steal by CSU's Jamarco Warren led to a Martin fastbreak dunk. It started to pick up when HPU made four-straight baskets. Jourdan Morris hit a layup, Harris hit a three and Singleton hit two fastbreak layups in a row to make it 12-7 HPU.

The Panthers continued to hold that lead with Barbour and Harris each draining three pointers. Singleton shot a no-look pass to Morris under the basket and Morris converted to make it 26-15 HPU. The Panthers stretched it to 30-16 on a long-range three pointer by Harris before the Buccaneers closed the game. CSU's Jeremy Sexton converted a layup and a free throw, then a pair of steals led to fastbreak layups by Martin. The Panthers held a 40-35 lead at halftime despite getting whistled for 15 fouls to the Buccaneers' six.

After the half, HPU stretched its lead to eight points before an 8-1 run by Charleston Southern cut the Panthers' lead to 46-45. HPU freshman Jairus Simms then hit a trey from the corner and Tehran Cox did a spin move in the paint for a layup that got HPU back out by five. Charleston Southern marched back and took its first lead since the opening minutes when Jo'el Lamb hit a pair of free throws to make it 58-57. CSU's Sexton scored the next five points to make it 63-58 with under five minutes to go.

The Panthers were down by seven points with a minute to go and did all they could to get back in it. Harris hit a three pointer to cut it to 68-64. Martin hit a pair free throws before Harris came back with a pair of free throws for HPU to make it 70-66 with 0:27 to go. HPU's hopes faded as CSU ran 18 seconds off the clock before fouling Lamb, who hit both free throws. HPU was able to get another trey from Harris but ran out of time.

Martin and Sexton each scored 20 points for Charleston Southern and Warren added 12.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for HPU. The Panthers will look to get back on the winning track when they head north for a matchup with Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m.