HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 regular season with a bang inside the Qubein Center on Wednesday night. The 93-51 victory over the visiting Eagles of Coppin State University marked the Panthers largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since HPU became Division I in 1999.
"I thought we did some nice things tonight and I thought we shared the ball pretty well," Head Coach
Alan Huss stated. "We felt like if we could get the ball in the paint and spray the basketball out once or twice in each possession then we would be able to get some good looks against them. Obviously, it's up to us to stand out there and knock them down when we get those open looks."
The excitement of the game was watching graduate student
Chase Johnston cash in three-pointer after three-pointer with ease throughout the game. His nine made threes recorded a new career-high for the shooting guard and the most threes made by a High Point player against a Division I team. Nick Barbour holds the overall record with 10 made threes against UNC Pembroke. Johnston led the team with 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field and added three rebounds and two assists.
"Once I see one shot go in… the hoop looks ginormous," Johnston commented. "But it all goes back to my teammates for trusting me and feeding me the ball."
Johnston opened the game with a trio of threes to put the Panthers ahead 10-3 early. High Point continued to rain threes from the perimeter as
Kezza Giffa joined in on the action with a pair of threes to extend HPU's lead to 16-5.
Kimani Hamilton used his long wing span to get deflections off passes and after scooping up a turnover by Coppin State, he threw down the first dunk of the night. He later broke down the CSU defense and dished off a pass to
Juslin Bodo Bodo in the paint for a rim shaking jam.
With under seven minutes to go in the first half, two free throws from Giffa put the Panthers up by 20 points, 29-8.
Johnston knocked down three more threes in the last six minutes of the first half to make it 43-20 with two minutes to go before the break.
Giffa closed out the half with four free throws to help High Point lead by 25 points at the half, 47-22. High Point's nine threes in the first half was a program record in the first half.
High Point kept a steady 20-point lead at the start of the second half and registered a 30-point lead at the 12-minute mark with a free throw from
Braden Hausen to make it 64-34. On the way to a 30-point lead,
Abdoulaye Thiam broke away on a fastbreak and put down another HPU dunk.
At the six-minute mark, Johnston knocked down back-to-back threes in back-to-back possessions to make it 76-42. With more gas in the tank, he dropped in his ninth three of the game with four minutes left in the game after Bodo Bodo handed off a pass to Johnston for the corner three.
Bodo Bodo made an impact in the lane defensively. He picked up 13 rebounds and altered countless shots including a game-high three blocks.
Late in the game,
David Fonville backed down his defender and scored off the glass, registering his first bucket in his freshman debut.
Liam Carney followed up with a corner three to put the Panthers up a game-high 43 points. High Point ran out the clock at the end of the game and secured the first win of the season with a 93-51 victory.
UP NEXT:
High Point hosts Jackson State University on Saturday, November 9 for a mid-day matchup at 2:00 p.m.
#GoHPU x #Onthe Prowl
