Box Score BOX SCORE
Postgame with Scott Cherry

The High Point University men's basketball team cut a 23-point halftime deficit to 11 points late in the game but took a 75-58 loss to Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Conway, S.C. Senior Eugene Harris scored a career-high 25 points.

"We didn't come out ready to play," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "We talked about what we needed to do in the game, and we didn't do it. On the defensive end we gave up some layups and free throws and offensive rebounds and on the offensive end, we didn't really get anything going in the first half. We did some things better in the second half but we didn't make key plays at key times."

High Point fell to 9-8 overall and 4-3 in the Big South while Coastal Carolina improved to 17-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big South.

Starting off the second half, Corey Law put back his own rebound to score the first bucket, David Singleton hit a layup and Harris drew a foul that prompted Coastal Carolina to call a timeout. Harris sank both free throws to make it 39-22. After Coastal hit a couple of free throws, Harris hit a three to make it 41-25. The Panthers continued to make some shots and get offensive rebounds, but couldn't significantly close the gap and trailed, 51-31, at the second official timeout.

Harris continued to be a bright spot as the second half wore on, draining a three pointer before making a layup and drawing a foul, which he converted to make it 53-37. He scored 11 points in a row for HPU, cutting the Chanticleers' lead to 54-42 with under eight minutes to go in the game.

Freshman Jairus Simms hit a three-pointer that made it 60-49 with five minutes remaining, the closest margin since early in the game. Coastal Carolina's Mario Edwards matched it with a three when Cherry called a timeout. The next bucket came when Law put back the rebound of a Harris shot to make it 63-51. Edwards hit a couple free throws before Nick Barbour hit a three and Law put back the rebound of another Harris shot to make it 67-56, the closest margin since early in the game. The teams traded baskets, including Harris's 24th and 25th points, but HPU couldn't get any closer than the 11-point margin with 1:19 to go.

Edwards led all scorers with 28 points and three other Chanticleers scored in double figures. Chad Gray scored 20 points and Kierre Greenwood and Joseph Harris each scored 10. Joseph Harris grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. His career total of 1,117 rebounds broke High Point's Arizona Reid's Big South record of 1,013 set from 2004-08.

The Panthers shot 21.2 percent (7-33) in the first half, while Coastal Carolina shot 53.8 percent (14-26). HPU was shooting just 9.5 percent (2-21) before Barbour hit a three-pointer that made it 24-7. Coastal Carolina cruised to a 39-16 halftime lead behind 16 points from Edwards.

High Point will look to get back in the win column when it hosts a pair of games next week, taking on Liberty on Thursday and VMI on Saturday at the Millis Center. HPU is 7-0 at home this season. Both games begin at 7 p.m. The game against VMI is already sold out to the general public.