HIGH POINT, N.C.- High Point men's basketball had a thrilling comeback-win against the Radford Highlanders Wednesday night, rallying back from down 19 points. It was the last home game for the Panthers this year and quite the senior night, celebrating senior guard
Bryant Randleman and senior forward
Emmanuel Izunabor.
Coach G.G. Smith – "The guys could have easily folded, but they did not give up and they showed a lot of grit. The second half we locked in and we just kept fighting. I am really happy we got the win. We had poise and composure and they really showed how much they have grown".
Zack Austin brought some energy into the Qubein Center early, opening the game with a hard slam off an assist from Izunabor.
Randleman scored on the next possession, following up his own miss to make it 4-2.
Brock Williams contributed four points off the bench, drawing an and-one and then euro-stepping through the lane to sink a floater.
Ahmard Harvey put-back a missed bucket with a dunk of his own to make it 8-8.
Abdoulaye Thiam converted on a layup and three-ball on consecutive possessions to tie it up at 13 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
Thiam followed up his dominant offensive performance with a steal on the other end, ending the first half tied with
Jaden House as the points-leader with six.
After a run by Radford and increased pressure on defense, High Point went into the halftime break trailing by 15.
It was a deja-vu-like start to the 2nd half as Austin slammed another one down, finishing an alley-oop from Randleman.
Austin leapt through the lane to throw down another dunk and Randleman converted on two buckets to help cut into the lead.
With just under 14 minutes, efforts by Thiam and Williams cut the lead to single-digits.
A
Bryson Childress deep three put the Panthers within four, causing the entire Qubein Arena to rise to their feet and forcing a Radford timeout.
The Highlanders responded with a few quick points, but Williams continued his stellar performance with another bucket off a hard drive to keep the lead within range.
A 13-point run by the Panthers gave them their second and biggest lead of the game, coming back from a 19-point deficit.
A Thiam three and a swift move through the lane by Austin put the Panthers on top for the first time in the game since the opening minute of play.
Austin followed up his bucket with a three-pointer and House netted a layup to completely flip the script with all the momentum on the Panther's side.
With just seconds left on the game clock, Austin drilled both of his free-throws, securing the 19-point comeback win for High Point.
Everything was going the Panthers way in the second half. High Point's offense nearly doubled their field-goal shooting percentage in the second 30 minutes compared to the first half of play. Compared to 1-for-12 in the first half from deep, High Point netted four of their seven three-point attempts. They also tallied seven out of eight of their second-half free throws.
Four Panther players ended the night in double-figures. Austin had an incredible night contributing 20 points, three rebounds, an assist, and five blocks. Thiam added 12 points, and Randleman and House both tallied ten. Williams made a huge impact off the bench with eight points and two rebounds Izunabor had a whopping nine key rebounds in the win.
UP NEXT: The Panthers travel to Rock Hill, S.C. for their last regular-season game against Winthrop Saturday, February 25th. Tip-off is set for 2:00 P.M.
#GoHPU
