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The High Point University men's basketball team used a 23-8 run midway through the second half to pick up a 71-62 win over Radford on Tuesday night in the Millis Center. Senior guard
Nick Barbour led the Panthers with 24 points, including 20 in the second half. He went 5-for-6 on three-pointers.
"We're winding it down in the last couple weeks of the season, so you've just got to find ways to win and that's what our guys did tonight," said HPU head coach
Scott Cherry. "Our guys made some plays when they needed to and stretched the lead out in the second half, then just held on and made free throws in the end."
"We've been making really good strides," Cherry added. "I've been pleased with the way we've played in the last four games. It might not be pretty but we've been doing a good job coming back and playing well at the end of games ... We've just got to stay healthy and finish up the season strong going into the conference tournament."
All of Barbour's baskets came on three-pointers or from the free-throw line (he went 9-for-11) and he had four assists. His five three pointers moved him up to first place in the nation with 95 three pointers on the season.
Senior guard
Shay Shine scored 11 points and led High Point with eight rebounds and six assists. He finished the game with an alley-oop dunk from Barbour. Redshirt-junior forward
Corey Law also scored 11 points and came down with four rebounds and junior forward Branmir Mikulic scored 10 points.
Freshman guard R.J. Price led Radford with 14 points and four assists. Freshman Javonte Green and junior Blake Smith both contributed 12 points for the Highlanders.
High Point improved to 11-16 overall and 7-10 in the Big South while Radford fell to 5-23 overall and 2-14 in league play. The win was High Point's fourth in its last six games.
With 12:18 remaining in the game, Law started the Panther offense with a powerful layup to ignite a 23-8 Panther run. On the next possession, sophomore
Justin Cheek hit a jumper from the left side to give HPU a 40-39 lead.
Barbour put HPU up by seven when he knocked down a long-distance three, which was immediately followed by a Mikulic trey from the same spot that made it 56-46. Barbour hit yet another three-pointer with 3:15 remaining in the game to give HPU a 12-point lead (59-47), its largest of the game.
Radford went on an 8-2 run to narrow the lead to six points, 61-55, with 1:42 remaining in the game. Following two
Xavier Martin free throws, Radford's Price hit a three-pointer to bring the Highlanders within five, 63-58. However, they were not able to overcome the deficit.
HPU finished the game with the Barbour to Shine alley-oop with one second on the clock.
High Point took the lead off the tip when Mikulic knocked down a trey from the left corner. The Panthers held Radford to just a free-throw for the first three and a half minutes of the game until Price knocked down a three to make the game 5-4 with 16:28 remaining in the first.
With 33 seconds remaining in the first, Shine took it the distance for a fast-break layup to give HPU the lead, 27-26, going into the break.
Law opened the second half by collecting a rebound and putting it back up for two. Following a Radford dunk, HPU freshman
Devante Wallace made a fast-break layup to keep HPU in the lead, 31-28, with 18:32 remaining in the game.
High Point will take a break from conference play this weekend when the Panthers travel to Stephen F. Austin State in Nacogdoches, Texas, as part of the Sears ESPN BracketBusters. It will be the first-ever matchup between the two teams and the first time HPU men's basketball will play in Texas. The game is part of a double-header, with a women's basketball game before it at 5 p.m. (EST).