Rock Hill, S.C. – After a thrilling 17-point comeback in the second half, High Point men's basketball guard
Kezza Giffa took it to the hoop and dropped in the last second game winner to secure the 83-81 win at Winthrop Saturday afternoon.
Giffa led the team with a career-high 37 points, five assists and four rebounds in his 40 minutes of play. He went 11-for-18 from the field, 2-for-7 from three-point range and 13-for-16 from the line. Complimenting Giffa,
Trae Benham and
Kimani Hamilton each added 13 points and combined for 11 rebounds.
Titas Sargiunas tied his career-high with 10 points.
"Our team was unbelievably resilient this afternoon," Head Coach
Alan Huss stated. "They played with a tremendous amount of grit and poise down the stretch. We are now excited to turn our efforts to a terrific Longwood team this Thursday. I would like to encourage fans and students to arrive and help create an electric atmosphere at Qubein Arena."
Site: Winthrop Coliseum
Score: High Point 83, Winthrop 81
Records: High Point (18-4, 7-0), Winthrop (14-9, 5-3)
Down 17 points with 16 minutes left in the second half, the Panthers dug deep and chipped away possession by possession to get back in the game. Within a span of six minutes, big shots from Giffa, Hamilton
and Benham, along with defensive stops as a team, cut the game two.
Feeling the momentum brewing for High Point, Benham curled off a hand-off from Hamilton and used Hamilton's screen to shoot over him. Cashing in the three, the Panthers took their first lead (63-61) since the opening minute following tip-off.
The last 10 minutes of action witnessed a battle, exchanging the lead five times. HPU went down four points (75-71) after a made free throw by Winthrop's Kelton Talford with four minutes left.
Hamilton knocked down one of two free throws at the line to cut it to three, followed by a three from Benham to tie the game 75-75 with 3:21 left on the clock.
The Panthers tied the game a second time with 1:24 left to go at 78 all. A free-throw and lay-up from Giffa gave High Point the one-point advantage (81-78) with 24 seconds left.
The Eagles raced down in their final possession and drove in on the right-side baseline and scored the and-one basket and free throw, tying the game at 81-81.
HPU came down the court with 14 seconds left and worked up a play to get Giffa a shot at the game winner. Driving left towards the baseline, Giffa jump stopped and pump faked before throwing up a left handed hook shot. Dropping in the winning basket with 0.5 seconds left on the clock, HPU celebrated the 83-81 victory.
High Point defeated Winthrop for the first time on the road since the 2016-17 season. The win extended High Point's streak to 10 and set a program best start in Big South Conference play, 7-0.
Up Next:
High Point returns home to host the ESPNU Wildcard against Longwood on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
