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The High Point University men's basketball team cut a 14-point second-half deficit to one with 14 seconds to go, but took a 68-64 loss to Hampton on Tuesday night at the HU Convocation Center in Hampton, Va. Sophomore Xavier Martin hit two free throws to make it 65-64 but Hampton's Darrion Pellum hit the next two and the Panthers couldn't complete the comeback.

"We got into a hole against a good team," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "We had the ball down three with a pretty good look. I'm happy with my team's effort, we battled and hopefully we can learn from another close game. I told my guys we just have to get ready for Saturday. Our record is 0-0 now (in the Big South)".

Senior guard Shay Shine led HPU with 19 points, including 15 in the second half, and senior Nick Barbour scored 17. Martin scored 11 points and junior forward Corey Law grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Hampton was led by Pellum's 26 points. He went 5-for-9 from three-point range. David Bruce scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Hampton led 30-21 going into the second half and scored nine of the first 13 points in the second to take a 39-25 gap. The Panthers then started to chip away at Hampton's lead and had it down to four points (53-49) when Shine hit one of his three second-half treys with 5:58 to go. Hampton countered with three straight field goals -- a jumper by Bruce, a dunk by Pellum and a three from Jasper Williams -- that made it 60-49.

The Panthers continued to battle, with Shine hitting a three followed by two free throws from Law that got HPU within four (63-59) in the final minute. After Hampton's Christopher Tolson hit one of two free throws, Martin hit a three-pointer from the left side with 23 seconds left. The Panthers pressed on defense and Hampton had two call two timeouts before getting the ball in successfully, which resulted in Pellum hitting one of two free throws.

Down three with 23 seconds to go, Martin drew a foul and hit two shots from the line, getting HPU within a point (65-64) with 14 seconds remaining. Hampton got a pair of free throws from Pellum with 13 seconds to go and HPU got the ball up the court, but HPU's next two shots -- a three-point attempt by Shine and a putback from Branimir Mikulic -- both missed.

High Point outrebounded Hampton by six (37-31) but was outscored in the paint, 20-12.

The Panthers open Big South play on Saturday when they take on Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C. It is HPU's first matchup with Campbell since 2002-03, as Campbell rejoined the league this season.