HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's basketball team hosted Carolina University on Tuesday night inside the Qubein Center for the team's eighth home game of the season. Remaining undefeated at home, the Panthers defeated the Bruins 99-31.
"These games are always interesting right before Christmas playing a non-division I," Head Coach
Alan Huss stated. "You find out a little bit about how committed to the process your team is and that's what we talked about tonight. There were four or five things that we could control and we wanted to try and stay true to those no matter what the score showed on the scoreboard. I thought our guys for the most part did a nice job… we were a little dead to start the game but our first unit off the bench gave us some energy. I was really pleased with that last group that plays on our scout team a lot of the time. I thought they came in and flew around and really defended, so I was pleased."
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 99, Carolina U 31
Records: High Point (11-2), Carolina University (2-11)
High Point opened the game up shooting the long ball, knocking down three of the first four shots from the perimeter.
Chase Johnston led with two threes out the gate and help the Panthers to an early 11-2 lead. At the 14:53 mark, the Bruins remained within eight points at 15-7.
HPU picked up the defense and applied a three quarters court pressure to force multiple turnovers by Carolina. This helped increase High Point's lead to 20 with seven minutes to go in the first half.
D'Maurian Williams contributed to the large lead after knocking down a three pointer in the corner from a dish out by Johnston. The three-pointer secured William's 1000
th career point in his four years of playing college basketball.
With under four minutes to go in the first half, two back-to-back steals led to a 30-point lead for the Panthers.
Abdoulaye Thiam picked up a steal to give
Josh Ibukunoluwa an opportunity for a dunk followed by a steal from
Trae Benham for a Thiam three.
At the half, High Point led 53-20.
In the second half, the Panthers continued to apply strong defense and worked the ball on the offensive end to find open looks. In the first five minutes, Johnston knocked down his third three of the night. Through the next four minutes, HPU laid in multiple layups before Thiam threw down a right-handed punch at the rim to make it 76-29.
Through 18 minutes of second half action, High Point held the bruins to nine points. With stops on the defensive end, the Panthers continued to translate to offensive points and extended the lead to 40 with four minutes to go in the game.
Liam Carney picked up a career-high six points after knocking down two free throws, a fade-away jumper and a put back from an offensive board. In the final two minutes,
David Fonville rocked the house after picking up a steal for a breakaway one-handed slam.
Birgir Irving scored High Point's last basket to give the Panthers the 99-31 victory.
Three Panthers scored in double-figures led by Thiam with 13, and Johnston and
Kimani Hamilton each with 11.
Ivan Matlekovic scored a season-high nine points with two blocks after playing in 13 minutes. Ibukunoluwa led the game with 11 rebounds after coming off the bench and playing 16 minutes, helping to team register 51 rebounds as a unit.
UP NEXT:
High Point travels to Southern Illinois University on Saturday, December 21 for an afternoon game at 2:00 p.m. This will be the Panthers last away game of the non-conference schedule.
#GoHPU x #Onthe Prowl
