HIGH POINT, N.C. - High Point men's basketball played a close conference matchup Wednesday night against the Camels of Campbell. It was a blood battle between the two teams with the Panthers falling just short 64-72.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 64, Campbell 72
Records: High Point (10-11,2-7) Campbell (9-12, 4-5)
Coach G.G. Smith: "Obviously that was a very deflating loss for us. I give Campbell a lot of credit. They do what they do and they are very efficient on the offensive end. I'm a little worried about our guys' mental state to be honest because this one really hurt. We just have to do a better job protecting our home court and we can't just let teams come in here and beat us and if not we have to find a way to steal some road games in league play."
Bryson Childress dominated the first half, drawing an offensive on the first defensive play of the game and then followed up his defensive effort with four three-pointers.
Abdoulaye Thiam added his first basket of the night outside of the arc as well and tallied three more points before the end of the half.
The Panthers early stretch of stellar offense had the crowd on their feet as
Zack Austin dropped a poster-worthy dunk over a Campbell defender.
It was very much back-and-forth play for the rest of the half. High Point went through a five-minute stretch scoreless before Childress answered with one of his four first-half threes.
Going into the half, High Point trailed by just two, outrebounding the Camels 21-16 and with both teams shooting around 40% from the field.
Jaden House opened the second half scoring with a layup and then Austin tallied five more points of his own on back-to-back plays.
With just over eight minutes remaining, Campbell tied it up at 49.
Ahmard Harvey converted on two free throws to take his point total to eight and the Panthers lead to two.
Moments later, Campbell went on a short run to give the Camels their largest lead of the game, but Austin was quick to answer with another slam.
The pressure remained on both ends of the court as Campbell took an eight-point lead.
It would be too late in the game for the Panthers to respond.
Austin has now been the top performer for High Point three games in a row, ending with 18 points, three assists, and nine rebounds.
Up Next: The Panthers will travel to Gardner-Webb Saturday for a 2:00PM matchup with the Runnin' Bulldogs. This will begin the second half of Big South conference play.
#GoHPU
