HIGH POINT, N.C. – On Friday night in front of 5,00 fans at the Qubein Center, the High Point University men's basketball team challenged a tough mid-major UAB team in non-conference action. Taking the game down to the final minute, the Panthers held on to the lead and secured the team's fourth straight win of the season, with the 68-65 victory over the Blazers.
Head Coach
Alan Huss commented on how versatile and tough UAB was and how difficult of a team it was to prepare for.
"UAB is a very talented team that is well coached. They make you do a lot of uncomfortable things on the offensive end, especially with their 1-3-1 defense. Their length and physicality is what really sped us up in the first half and I thought we got a little stagnant. We settled in a little better in the second half but we've got to be better at guarding in the second half without fouling... it's been a constant theme for us this season. I thought our guys showed some grit and we made just enough plays down the stretch."
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 68, UAB 65
Records: High Point (4-0), UAB (2-2)
After watching two solid halves of college basketball between two talented and highly ranked mid-major teams, it came down to the final minute of the game. UAB made it a one-point game at 66-65 after knocking down two free throws with 47 seconds left. The Panthers in-bounded the ball and dribbled up to half court to call a timeout with 21 seconds left on the shot clock and a 17 second difference in the game clock. Setting up a sidelines in-bound play, High Point successfully in-bounded the ball to
Kezza Giffa. Giving it back to
D'Maurian Williams, Williams went to work with a one-on-one situation, backing his defender down inside the lane. Realizing he was being double teamed, his court vision found
Kimani Hamilton wide open for a back door dunk to put High Point up by three with 24 seconds left.
The Blazers dribbled up the court and called a timeout to set up a last possession play. Following the timeout, as both teams entered the court, Hamilton called his teammates back in for one more group discussion before getting into the defensive position. In the huddle Hamilton said to his teammates, "'make sure we don't foul them on the three'... I felt like they were going to go to #8, which they did, and he was the one that took the last shot, so I told everyone to be aware of Johnson because he is known for hitting big shots for them." After the Panthers applied sticky defense on UAB in the final seconds, Johnson launched a three that Hamilton was able to block from the side with three seconds left. The Blazers retrieved the blocked shot and threw up another three point attempt that was no good, giving High Point the 68-65 victory.
It took a full team effort for High Point to pull out the win as all nine players who entered the game contributed in some type of way. The Panthers were led by Williams with 23 points, three assists and two rebounds while Hamiltton added 18 points and eight rebounds. Giffa reached double digits with 11 points and
Juslin Bodo Bodo secured 10 rebounds after picking up five offensive boards and five defensive boards.
Being such a physical matchup, both teams took a while to get going on the scoring end at the start of the game. After eight and a half minutes of action in the first half, High Point led 11-5. The Blazers quickly tied the game at 13 all with four quality possessions. Through the last 10 minutes of the half, the Panthers held a slight lead but kept it a low scoring game at the break to lead 26-25.
At the start of the second half, High Point took advantage of its early momentum and home court crowd. A 10-0 run in the first three minutes of play was sparked by a strong drive in the paint by Giffa and two back-to-back threes from Williams and Giffa. Hamilton really got the crowd on their feet with his powerful dunks. His first dunk was at the 17 minute mark as
Chase Johnston bounced in a pass from the wing to find Hamilton cutting through the lane for a one-handed slam to give High Point the 36-25 lead. Hamilton's second dunk happened at the 14:45 mark when he picked one of the Blazer's pockets on the defensive end, landing in Williams' hands for him to pass up to Hamilton for the breakaway jam. A minute and a half later, Johnston picked up a steal and passed it ahead to
Abdoulaye Thiam for a fast break layup. This forced a timeout from UAB as the Panthers led 44-32 with 12:56 left in the game.
UAB did not fold and slowly chipped away to cut the game to four points with 10 minutes left on the clock. Giffa helped HPU stay afloat and increased the lead back up to eight with two free throws and a jump shot. Williams helped extend the lead back up to 12 for the Panthers with six minutes left to go in the game, but the Blazers were not backing down. Within four and a half minutes, UAB was able to close the gap to three with a minute and 21 seconds on the clock. Holding their composure, the Panthers were able to execute during end of the game situations and secure the 68-65 victory inside the Qubein Center on Western Night.
UP NEXT:
High Point hosts American University on Monday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. inside the Qubein Center for a first-time matchup since 1927.
#GoHPU X #OnTheProwl
