HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point men's basketball welcomed the Osprey's of North Florida to the Qubein Center on Saturday afternoon for a non-conference matchup. Taking it down to the wire, the Panthers pulled out the 93-88 win in the final minutes of action.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 93, North Florida 88
Records: High Point (7-1, 0-0), Tennessee State (2-5, 0-0)
G.G. Smith - "Another great team win for our guys. I thought we had another great crowd on a Saturday afternoon, with a lot of other basketball and football going on so I really liked to thank the crowd for being here today, I thought it really helped us there in the second half. I give North Florida a lot of credit, I've know coach Driscoll for a long time, he does a great job, they run a great offense, so we are very fortunate to have a big win against them."
It was a fast and efficient first half between the two teams, with High Point shooting 50% and North Florida shooting 45.2% from the field.
Bryant Randleman got it rolling for the Panthers with a floater in the paint followed by a smart pump fake for the sidestep three pointer from
Zack Austin on the break.
High Point took a 10-7 lead but the Osprey's answered with an outside three to tie it back up.
The Panther's scored three straight threes in a span on two minutes to go up 20-18, including one from
Sam Perez to collect the second of his career.
Austin rolled in two, almost identical right-handed reverse lay-ups within a three minute time frame, collecting the second lay-up with five minutes left in the first half.
The Panthers were down 44-47 with one minute remaining in the half. With an opportunity to extend the Osprey's lead by more, UNF's Carter Hendricksen backed
Emmanuel Izunabor down into the paint, but thinking he had the step on Izunabor,
Ahmard Harvey came in from the back side and swatted the lay-up away.
Gaining the foul on the next possession, House collected one free throw to make it a one basket game at 45-47. With 32 seconds left before the break, House knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 47 all going into the second half.
North Florida, like High Point, pushed the pace against the Panthers, gaining a lot of dominant action from their Jadyn Parker in the first half.
Austin was a high-flying threat during the game, especially in the second half, powering down three strong, impressive dunks. In the opening minutes of the second half, he caught a body on his launch from midway through the paint and hammered it down.
HPU took their first lead since the 11-minute mark in the first half with a lay-up from Austin to make it 64-62.
A back-cut on the Panthers quick hitter inbounds play kept HPU in the lead, 72-71.
Austin tomahawked another dunk over another body before coming down to find Thiam open on the block for an easy two points.
The game remained close through the final minutes of the second half, a lefty hook shot from Harvey ties it at 80 all.
With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Jarius Hicklen tied the game at 83-83.
House tagged his 19
th point of the night with a drive through the Osprey's defenders to take a two-point lead.
Austin made it four points, the team's largest lead of the second half, with one minute left in play off another tomahawk dunk on the fast break.
House gets a chance at a three-point play after getting the and-one on a right-side drive to the basket. The free throw miss kept it at a four-point game.
Off the rebound, Hendricksen attempts a pull up three point shot on the fast break before being blocked by Austin. A whistle on the block sent Hendrickesn to the line, going 3-3 from the line, HPU remained ahead 89-88 with 12 seconds left in play.
A quick foul on the inbounds play sent House to the line for two, knocking down both, House added the three-point cushion, 91-88.
A pump fake from Hicklen for the three-point attempt rimmed out, landing in Austins hands. A foul by the Osprey's with one second left in the game converted to two made free throws for Austin to secure the 93-88 win.
The Panthers remain undefeated at home in the Qubein Center with their only loss being to UNLV
Up Next: High Point travels to Greenville, South Carolina for a non-conference matchup with Furman on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
#GoHPU
