GREENVILLE, S.C. - The High Point men's basketball team kept the win streak alive on Tuesday with an 85-82 victory over nonconference opponent Furman. With not a person in the stands sitting down, the Panthers pulled out the win in the final minutes of play to advance to an 8-1 overall record.
Site: Timmons Arena (Greenville, S.C.)
Score: High Point 85, Furman 82
Records: High Point (8-1), Furman (6-3)
Head Coach G.G. Smith: " We are excited about our first true road win of the season. I thought it was our best offensive output this year.
Jaden House was unbelievable tonight. Winning at a place like Furman is a big stepping stone for our program. I'm proud of our guys effort overall. We didn't panic when Furman took the lead late. Our guys showed great resolve and responded the right way. We need to get our rest now and prepare for a really good Queens team on Friday night."
The Panthers got off to a fast start, taking a 12-6 lead early after
Zack Austin knocked down his second three of the night. One minute later, he hit his third three in a row to make it 15-9.
Mid-way through the set, Furman tied it up at 21 all with a fast break lay-up.
From there HPU kept pushing and advanced to a 10 point lead.
Abdoulaye Thiam made it 12 with a floater over his defender following a block from Austin on the other end.
After being up by as many as 16, the Paladins scrapped their way back into the game to make it 45-41 before the break.
Less than three minutes into the second half,
Jaden House excited the Panther bench with a powerful, one-handed dunk over the Paladin defender.
Extending the lead back up to 10, Furman scored 12 unanswered points to take their first lead of the game at the 11:27 mark.
Through the remainder of the game, the Paladins kept it under 10, making for a close battle to the end.
Only up by one point with just over a minute left in play, House threw a baseball pass long for Austin to track down, who laid it in to get the and-one call.
HPU was up 83-82 when the Paladins came down with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Furman's Mike Bothwell, who had 29 points for the Paladins, drove down the right side of the lane to attempt to lay one off the glass. Help side defense for
Emmanuel Izunabor collected the block to keep the Panthers up by one.
After a Furman foul, Austin went to the line to extend High Point's lead to three with less than five seconds left. A missed three pointer attempt from the Paladins gave HPU the victory.
Overall the Panthers shot 59.3% from the field as a team, as four of the five starters finished in double figures, led by House with 29, Thiam with 21, Austin with 14 and
Bryant Randleman with 12.
UP NEXT: The Panthers return to High Point for a nonconference contest with Queens University in their first season as a Division I program. Tip=off is set for 7:00 PM at the Qubein Center.
#GoHPU
