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Senior guard Nick Barbour hit a jumper that had the High Point University men's basketball team within two points late in the game, but the Panthers couldn't cover a 13-3 run and took an 88-71 loss to VMI on Thursday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va. Senior guard Shay Shine led HPU with 23 points.

"I thought we played much better tonight. In that little run, we missed some free throws that let them extend it," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "We played better than the last two games, we just let VMI drive to the basket too much. We didn't get the defensive stops we needed.

"Liberty will be a challenge in two days. I'm interested to see the response we get from our guys when they get back to the Millis Center."

Shine went 5-for-8 from the floor and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line en route to his 23 points and he also led the team with six rebounds. Barbour scored 15 and redshirt-junior forward Corey Law came off an injury to score 11 points in 12 minutes of play. Law went 5-for-6 from the floor.

VMI was led by Keith Gabriel, who scored 29 points, followed by Stan Okoye, who scored 25 points with a game-high nine rebounds. Okoye went 11-for-16 from the floor. D.J. Covington also scored in double digits, getting 13 points in 17 minutes.

High Point fell to 7-12 overall and 3-6 in Big South games while VMI improved to 10-9 overall and 5-4 in league play. The Keydets are undefeated at home this season.

The Panthers had come off two losses in which they trailed by double digits in the first half, but didn't let that happen tonight and were behind by two (42-40) at halftime.

Gabriel blocked a Barbour three-point attempt coming out of the break and converted a layup to get VMI out to a 44-40 edge. The teams kept going back and forth and consecutive baskets by Shine and Barbour got High Point within two points (61-59) with 10:43 left in the game.

Four-straight free throws by VMI started the 13-3 run and the Keydets held a double-digit lead the rest of the way. Gabriel finished off a three-point play to make it 72-62 and an Okoye floater made it 74-62 with 6:30 left in the game. Shine hit a pair of free throws to get HPU within 10 (76-66) with just over four minutes remaining, but the Panthers couldn't get any closer.

An Okoye dunk made it 86-71 with 1:23 left. Barbour hit a pair of free throws but Gabriel went right back down the floor for a layup, squelching any last minute comeback by the Panthers.

High Point came out of the gate strong, getting seven-point leads three times in the first 10 minutes of the game. Three-pointers by Justin Cheek and Barbour made it 11-4 and 19-12, respectively. A Law layup made it 21-14 with 10:26 left in the first half.

VMI chipped away at HPU's lead, getting several three-pointers, and the Keydets tied it at 25-25 on a Gabriel slam with 6:46 remaining. The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the half, VMI getting a four-point lead (38-34) on a Michael Sparks trey before a Branimir Mikulic three-pointer cut it back with 2:39 remaining. It was tied at 40-40 on a three-pointer by Barbour before Sparks hit a pair of free throws to finish out the first half.

After shooting 6-for-15 from three-point range in the first half, VMI went 0-for-8 in the second half but shot 17-for-22 on their two-point attempts to pull away.

The Panthers are back home on Saturday for a matchup with Liberty at the Millis Center. The game starts at 7 p.m.