HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Panthers men's basketball team kicked off the 2024-25 season at the Qubein Center with an exhibition against Averett University. The Panthers defeated the Cougars 85-57, led by graduate student
D'Maurian Williams with 25 points after going 4-for-7 from three-point range.
"It was homecoming weekend, and I thought we had a nice crowd for an exhibition," Head Coach
Alan Huss stated. "I thought we did some good things tonight, but certainly have a lot of things we need to work on when we go for real on Wednesday."
In the first half High Point stretched out on a 10-point lead early with a Williams three-pointer followed by a three-pointer from freshman forward
Braden Hausen to make it 18-6.
A driving lay-up from Averett kept the Cougars within 10 points but another three and lay-up from Hausen put the Panthers back up by 15 at 25-10.
High Point continued to build a lead as
Trae Benham connected on two threes while
Titas Sargiunas knocked down the final three of the first half with a minute left on the clock. The Panthers ended the half with a 45-22 advantage.
At the break Williams led with 13 points while Hausen trailed with 10.
Williams opened the second half hot from three-point range, knocking down back-to-back threes extending HPU's lead to 29.
Shortly after, fans witnessed the first dunk of the season in the Qubein Center with an alley-opp to
Juslin Bodo Bodo from
Kezza Giffa.
Hausen found his bread and butter at the top of the key as he cashed in two three-pointers late in the game to make it 78-47.
In the final minute of play,
Andrew Sineway picked up a steal and broke away on a fast break for a two-handed jam on the Panthers home side, scoring HPU's final point of the game.
High Point picked up the 85-57 win in front of the home crowd on Saturday night. As a team, HPU prided in the outside shot going 14-for-33 from deep for a 56.5% shooting night.
#GoHPU x #Onthe Prowl
