Box Score (PDF) | Photo Credit: Allen Sharpe/Jenny Dilworth

• Sophomore Austin White led the Panthers with 15 points (4-7 3pt FG)
• Junior Anthony Lindauer posted 10 points and matched a career-high with six assists; Andre Fox also posted 10 points
• HPU's senior class exits the program as the all-time winningest class in Div. I school history (77 wins)
 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The High Point University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to the South Carolina Gamecocks in NIT first round action Tuesday night in Colonial Life Arena.
 
HPU trailed 31-13 after the first 11 minutes, but the Panthers mounted a furious rally to pull within one (42-41) late in the first half.
 
Missing Big South Player of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year John Brown and All-Big South Second Team selection Adam Weary due to injury, HPU was within five of the Gamecocks at halftime (48-43).
 
But South Carolina (25-8) – which had an excellent case for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid - took advantage of a seven-minute High Point scoring drought in the second stanza to pull away for the win.
 
HPU finishes the 2015-16 season with a 21-11 record and a fourth-straight Big South regular season championship. The Panther senior quartet of Brown, Weary, Lorenzo Cugini and Haiishen McIntyre will graduate with an impressive 77 wins over their four-year careers.
 
The NIT appearance was HPU's second in the past three years and the fourth-straight postseason berth for the Purple & White.
 
"It took some time for our guys to get used to the size, speed and athleticism of South Carolina, but I thought our team responded well and made shots to get back into the game," head coach Scott Cherry said. "There's a lot to be proud of with how resilient this group has been over the past two weeks".
 
"I want to thank our four seniors, who leave High Point as the all-time winningest class in program history," Cherry added. "That group has created a championship culture in our program. With the guys coming back and the guys we have coming in to our program next season, I am excited to continue to build upon those championship goals."
 
High Point made a season-high 12 3-pointers and shot 40 percent from deep, but South Carolina – which entered the game in the top-25 nationally in 2-point field goal percentage defense - limited the Panthers to just 32 percent (9-28) from 2-point range.
 
Sophomore Austin White matched his career high with 15 points and hit a personal best four 3-pointers in 25 minutes, while junior Anthony Lindauer registered 10 points and tied a career best with six assists. Freshman Andre Fox chipped in 10 points and senior Lorenzo Cugini tallied nine points and hit a trio of 3-pointers.
 
Cugini ends his HPU career tied for fourth all-time in school history in 3-point field goals made (173) and career 3-point field goal percentage (.412).

Senior Haiishen McIntyre chipped in seven points and two assists. He ends his career eighth all-time at HPU In assists (226).
 
South Carolina scored nine of the first 10 points of the game and led by 12 (17-5) at the 13:48 mark of the first half. A 3-pointer from White cut the lead to nine (22-13) with 11:40 to play in the stanza, but the Gamecocks responded with a 9-0 run to build an 18-point lead (31-13) with 9:10 left in the half.
 
But from there, the Panthers came roaring back with a smorgasbord of sizzling shooting. HPU made 10 of its next 12 field goals (6-of-8 from 3-point range) to trim the 18-point edge to one (42-41) over the course of a seven minute period. The run included two 3-pointers each from White and Lindauer.
 
South Carolina ended the half with a 6-2 spurt and took a 48-43 lead into the break.
 
The Gamecocks scored the first seven points of the second half to extend their edge back to 12 (55-43), but five-straight points from Fox helped the Panthers move back within five (57-52) at the 15:15 mark. But the Panthers went the next 7+ minutes without a point and the Gamecocks took advantage, using a 20-0 run to open up a 77-52 lead with eight minutes to play.

The Panthers could not move closer than 20 for the remainder of the game.
 
HPU will now head to the offseason to begin preparations for a run at a fifth-straight league title. The Panthers return a strong nucleus of players for 2016-17 that accounted for 76 percent of the team's scoring against the Gamecocks.
 
#GoHPU