George Town, Cayman Islands - High Point University and Missouri State University matched up for the first time in men's basketball program history on Sunday evening in the Cayman Islands Classic. In the Panthers first game of the week, HPU fell 71-61 to the Bears.
High Point was led by
Kezza Giffa and
D'Maurian Williams with a combined 28 points as Giffa dished out a team-high five assists.
Site: John Gray High School Gym
Score: High Point 61, Missouri State 71
Records: High Point (5-1), Missouri State (4-1)
In the first five minutes of action, Missouri State took to a nine-point lead after catching fire from the perimeter and knocking down four three-pointers. The Panthers answered with a 6-0 run over a span of a minute and a half to make it 16-13 and trail by three. Within a few seconds, the Bears were back up by nine with 12:42 left to go in the first half.
At the 6:40 mark, HPU trailed by 12 points (29-17), making it the largest lead for MSU of the night. A layup in the lane from
Bobby Pettiford sparked a small run for the Panthers as he helped close the gap to three with another jumper to make it 31-28 with 2:29 left before the break.
Josh Ibukunoluwa scored the last bucket before the half as HPU trailed 35-30.
At the start of the second half, High Point remained close as back-to-back shots from
Chase Johnston made it 37-35. Following Johnston's three-pointer at the 18:49 mark, the Panthers went cold on offense and were scoreless for a four-minute span. Two threes from Missouri State put the Bears back up by 10 points, 47-37 at the 13:41 mark. A jump shot from the Bears a minute later gave MSU its largest lead of the game at 50-37.
With plenty of time left on the clock, the Panthers picked up the pressure in the front court which paved the way for a 10-0 run. Big defensive stops led to
Juslin Bodo Bodo's back-to-back alley-oops from the point guards, bringing the HPU bench to its feet with 8:32 left in the game.
Down 50-45, four technical fouls were called between the teams after an altercation. The technicals were all countered and Giffa went to the line for two shots from the original layup foul. Knocking down both, the Panthers trailed by three. Missouri State quickly went back up by nine over a two minute period and eventually went up by 10 with 3:21 left to go in the game.
With both teams in the bonus, High Point took advantage of getting to the line to make the points count with the clock stopped. The Panthers managed to close the gap to within six points on two occasions under the three minute mark but eventually had to foul in the final minute to try to help stop the clock. MSU went 6-for-6 from the line making it hard for HPU to counter the points and close the gap, resulting in the 71-61 loss.
UP NEXT:
High Point will play Old Dominion University on Monday, November 25 at 5:00 p.m. ET in the consolation side of the bracket. The game will be streamed on Flosports.
#GoHPU x #Onthe Prowl
