Box Score BOX SCORE

High Point University had two players record double-doubles for the first time this season but VMI drained 13 three-pointers and 28 foul shots en route to a 91-84 win over the Panthers on Tuesday night in Lexington, Va. Senior Cruz Daniels scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds while redshirt freshman Corey Law had 13 points and 13 rebounds for HPU. Nick Barbour led HPU with 21 points.

High Point cut an 84-73 deficit with 1:11 on the clock down to 87-82 with 25 seconds left but VMI's Austin Kenon drained his final four free-throw attempts to ice it for the Keydets. Kenon scored 38 points in the game, including six three-pointers, to lead four Keydets in double figures.

VMI went 13-for-35 from three-point range, 28-for-38 from the charity stripe and attempted 72 shots from the field.

"We played a good enough game to give ourselves a chance to win, we just couldn't convert on offense," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "We had 17 turnovers against a team playing defense like that, which shouldn't happen. I thought we did a good job defensively. They scored 91 points but a lot of them were free throws at the end.

"We knew Corey and Cruz would get a lot of opportunities with the defense they would play on Nick [Barbour] and Eugene [Harris]. They both got 11 shots, we just needed a couple other guys to step up and make shots."

High Point fell back to .500 overall at 13-13 and is 8-7 in the Big South with the loss while VMI improved to 10-16 overall and 5-11 in the Big South. VMI swept the season series from the Panthers.

Kenon scored VMI's first 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and got the Keydets out to a 10-5 lead. Law grabbed an offensive rebound and shot it in before a two-and-one by Barbour got HPU within three (15-12). A trey by VMI's Michael Sparks started a 10-3 Keydet run that made it 25-15.

Down 10, HPU was able to score the next 15 points, starting with a three-pointer by Jairus Simms and finishing with a layup by Daniels, to make it 35-25 HPU. David Campbell hit two buckets from close range to tie the game and Barbour hit a trey to give HPU the lead during the run.

The teams traded points through the remainder of the half. Kenon's fourth three-pointer got the Keydets back out front, 34-33, and he scored the final five points of the half – including a jumper in the closing seconds – to give VMI a 40-35 advantage going into the locker room.

High Point was able to get to the basket early in the second, but VMI was draining three-pointers and extended its lead. Kenon and Sparks hit treys before three in a row from downtown by Keith Gabriel had VMI on top, 59-49. Continuing the theme of runs, the Panthers came back with three quick baskets by Daniels, David Singleton and Eugene Harris to make it 59-55 and prompt a VMI timeout.

The Keydets struck with a trey by Kenon coming off the break. The Panthers were able to get back within four (62-58) on a free throw by Campbell with 10:11 on the clock but couldn't get any closer. VMI was able to get its lead as high as 14 points before HPU cut it back to single digits in the final minute.

High Point plays its final regular season road game on Saturday when it travels to Lynchburg, Va., to take on Liberty at 7 p.m. HPU hosts Winthrop and Presbyterian to close out the regular season next week.