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The High Point University men's basketball team got a 27-point performance from senior guard Nick Barbour, pulling away late in a 63-57 victory over Presbyterian College on Thursday night at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C. Barbour went 11-for-14 from the floor and senior guard Shay Shine contributed 14 points.

"We had great energy before the game but came out kind of flat and missed some open shots," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "After that, we played really well, especially defensively, holding a really good team to 43 points in the last 35 minutes. It's huge to get a road win, especially this early in the season."

"I love the way Nick and Shay both come out and want to win the game for us," Cherry added. "Our forwards played well on defense and we got a lot out of our bench."

Barbour hit all three of his three-point attempts and both of his two free throws. He and Shine combined to go 17-for-23 from the floor. Junior forward Branimir Mikulic led HPU with seven rebounds and Justin Cheek hit a pair of treys.

Junior guard Khalid Mutakabbir led Presbyterian with 20 points while Josh Johnson scored 10 with six rebounds. The Panthers held preseason All-Conference selection Al'Lonzo Coleman to eight points and eight rebounds.

High Point improved to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in the Big South while Presbyterian fell to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in league play.

Presbyterian led for most of the first half, but the Panthers came back to tie it at 35-35 at the break and got their first lead when junior Corey Law hit a layup to start the second half. The teams went back and forth for much of the second half before the Panthers started getting some momentum. Barbour hit a three-pointer, then a jumper off the glass to make it 50-45 HPU, the Panthers' largest lead to that point. HPU got back on defense and forced a Presbyterian timeout but didn't get much space from the Blue Hose.

With just under seven minutes left in the game, PC's Johnson hit a layup but Barbour was back at it with a jumper in the paint, then a steal that led to a Jairus Simms floater, making it 54-47 HPU. Presbyterian's Clyburn hit a layup 20 seconds later but the Panthers kept their lead around 5-7 points until the closing minutes.

With under two minutes left, PC freshman Eric Washington fed a great bounce pass to Coleman down low and Coleman laid it in to cut HPU's lead to three (58-55). The Panthers got a layup from Shine shortly after and held their lead for the victory.

The Blue Hose started the game on a 14-2 run, hitting the first three shots, before the Panthers broke it up with consecutive three-pointers from Cheek and Xavier Martin. Down 23-17 with under seven minutes in the first half, High Point got a jumper from Martin before Barbour hit consecutive shots – a putback of his own shot and layup under the basket – to tie it 23-23 for the first time since opening tip. It was 28-28 at halftime.

High Point University has beaten Presbyterian five times in a row, its best winning streak against any Big South opponent.

The Panthers are back on the road Saturday when they take on Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. in Boiling Springs, N.C. The teams split their two games last season.