Site: High Point, N.C. (Qubein Center)
Score: High Point 88, Hampton 77
Records: High Point 13-17 (7-9), Hampton 9-18 (5-11)
High Point, N.C.— High Point University men's basketball closed out the regular season with a dominant 88-77 win over the Hampton Pirates in the Qubein Center on Senior Day on Saturday (Feb. 26) afternoon. Bryant Randleman led the way with a career-high 21 points. Zack Austin nearly had a triple-double as he ended with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and six blocks.
With the win the Panthers ended the regular season 7-9 in the Big South, the seeds for the Big South Tournament have now been announced. HPU will be the #7 seed in the Big South tournament. The #7 Panthers will face #10 Hampton in an immediate rematch on Wednesday at 6:00 pm in the first round of the Big South Tournament in Charlotte at the Bojangles Coliseum.
Coach GG Smith: We are pleased about the win. I thought our guys were ready to go today. We got off to a great start. One of their better players in Godwin was sick and did not play, that helped us out a little bit. I am really proud of the effort. I am proud that we sent our seniors off with a win, it was one of our first wins on senior day in a long time. Everything starts with our point guard, Bryant Randleman was incredible tonight. This time of the year you need great play out of your point guard and I thought he was just steady. We asked him to shoot the ball a little more than he has and he shot the ball well and we are excited about that.
Panther Particulars
HPU got off to a hot start jumping out to a 12-2 lead, the exclamation mark on the opening run was a John-Michael Hughes three with 14:49 to play in the first half.
Bryson Childress pushed the lead above 10 with a three with 9:21 to play in the first half. Childress gave the Panthers a 23-10 lead.
Bryant Randleman hit a three with 4:47 to play to put the Panthers up 32-21. It was just the beginning of Randleman's big night.
With 1:22 left in the first half, Randleman scored and was fouled. Randleman completed the three-point play and gave High Point a 40-26 lead.
The Panthers entered the halftime break leading the Pirates 44-32. HPU shot 63% from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Austin kept the offensive pressure on right out of the halftime gates taking the ball coast to coast for a layup.
John-Michael Wright extended the Panther lead to 52-36 with a three-pointer from the corner.
Emmanuel Izunabor completed the and-1 play to bring him to six points on the day.
Wright split two Hampton defenders as he finished another layup to bring the score to 62-43 with 12:43 remaining in the game.
Austin drained a three-pointer from the corner for his first three-pointer of the day.
Alex Holt stood strong in the center as he slammed it home to extend the Panther lead to 81-63 with 5:40 remaining in the second half.
Childress hit another three-pointer to get the crowd in the Qubein Center on their feet.
Up Next
HPU will be the #7 seed in the Big South tournament. The #7 Panthers will face #10 Hampton in an immediate rematch on Wednesday at 6:00 pm in the first round of the Big South Tournament in Charlotte at the Bojangles Coliseum.
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