HIGH POINT, N.C. - Kimani Hamilton recorded a career-high 34 points, including 30 in the first half, to help lift the High Point University men's basketball team over Radford, 99-74, on Saturday night.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 99, Radford 74
Records: High Point (22-6, 11-2), Radford (13-14, 3-9)
Head Coach Alan Huss: "Credit to our guys. We had two excellent practices in preparing for these guys… I thought our guys had elite level preparation, attention to detail, and competitiveness in the two days leading up… We got rolling a little bit on offense, we really shared it. We ended up with eight turnovers but a couple of them were late. After having 20 the other night, I thought that was a really nice progression for us to get back to handling the basketball."
Hamilton could not miss as he started the game off with 16 points on 6-6 shooting from the court and 4-4 from the three-point line within the first seven minutes of the game.
Abdoulaye Thiam also got things going for HPU early as he drained two three-pointers as the Panthers started the game off 8-12 from the three-point line in the first ten minutes of action.
Hamilton flew above the rim for a two-handed jam as he recorded his 25th point of the first half.
The Panthers advanced their lead back to double-digits after Hamilton drained his sixth three-pointer of the first half.
Titas Sarguinas tied HPU's largest lead of the game, 16 points, as he recorded back-to-back baskets.
A Hamilton layup gave him 30 points in the game, and the Panthers their largest lead of the game, 47-30, with 2:25 remaining in the first half.
Sarguinas closed out the first half with a jumper as the buzzer sounded to give HPU a 52-33 lead at halftime.
The Panthers shot a terrific 58.8 percent from the court overall and 47.4 percent from the free-throw line at the end of the first 20 minutes.
Duke Miles kicked off the second half for HPU with a layup for his first bucket of the game.
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Trae Benham three-pointer gave the Panthers their largest lead of the game, 63-39.
Miles drained his first triple of the game to give HPU a 72-50 lead.
Hamilton recorded a two-handed dunk for his first basket of the second half to give him 34 points on the game.
Sarguinas earned himself an and-one, three-point play to push HPU's lead back up to over 20 points, 83-62.
Thiam knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to give him 21 points on the game and the Panthers a 25-point lead, 97-72.
"Laye really set the tone on the other end and I think he has for about five games in a row now. I think he is really turning into a guy that we can rely on to be really consistent with his energy," said Huss.
The Panthers finished the game shooting 52.1 percent from the court overall and 39.4 percent from the free-throw line to help HPU seal a 99-72 win.
Kimani Hamilton led the way with a career-high performance as he recorded 34 points on 13-16 shooting from the court overall and 6-8 from the three-point line to go along with four rebounds and three assists.
"I was just taking what the defense was giving me. They were just basically sitting there and letting me shoot and my teammates were finding me so I was just taking what they were giving me. I feel like it gave the team confidence and we just came out ready to play," said Hamilton.
Pavlo Dziuba led the night with a career-high 13 rebounds while Miles led the team with five assists.
Up Next: High Point will have a short break before returning to action on the road against Charleston Southern on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
