High Point, N.C. – The High Point men's basketball team welcomed the crosstown rival North Carolina A&T State to the Qubein Center on Friday night for a non-conference match up. The Panthers edged the Aggies, 75-62 and were led by two Panthers in double figures,
Duke Miles (25) and
Kimani Hamilton (22). Hamilton recorded his third double-double of the season adding 11 rebounds.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 75, NC A&T 62
Records: High Point (8-3), NC A&T (0-8)
After a fast pace start between the teams, High Point struggled to string together solid offensive possessions to extend on a large lead. The game tied up on four occasions in the first half as both teams exchanged the advantage back and forth.
"NC A&T really played off a lot of our guys defensively," Head Coach
Alan Huss commented, "even some of our best shooters, and we really like to take shots with energy in the ball. We like to draw two defenders to the basketball before we kick it to someone for a shot and they were willing to defensively stop the one pass shots and we took a lot of those. That was contrary to what we're trying to accomplish offensively."
The first half was led by Miles and Hamilton with eight points apiece. The Panthers were down by one point with two and a half minutes to go in the first, Miles scored an and-one bucket with the shot clock winding down to zero for the go-ahead basket. High Point led at the half, 34-31.
A
Trae Benham three to start the second half put HPU up by six. At the seven-minute mark, a stretch of transition plays by High Point created a run. Initiate by Hamilton, he scored eight of the team's points on the 12-2 run. Miles and
Abdoulaye Thiam also picked up steals to help contribute in the Panthers' strides.
"Most of the guys just decided internally that they wanted to compete a little harder in the second half," Huss added. "Once they competed a little harder, all those little plays started going our way."
High Point stretched the lead to 15 with two and a half minutes left and kept the Aggies from closing the gap before the final horn.
HPU out rebounded NC A&T 33-20 and outscored the Aggies in the paint 42-32. Overall, the Panthers shot 54.9% from the field, 53.8% from beyond the arc and 75% from the free throw line.
Up Next:
High Point has a week off of games with exams starting and will return to action on Saturday, December 16
th with a road trip to SEC opponent, University of Georgia. Tip-off is set for 5:30 pm on the SEC Network.
#GoHPU
