DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The High Point University men's basketball team made the trip down south to compete in the College Basketball Invitational Tournament for the first time in program history. HPU earned the No. 1 seed entering the tournament and had a bye until the quarterfinals. Taking on the No. 9 seed Cleveland State Monday afternoon, the Panthers dominated and stretched out the lead in the second half to move on to the semifinals with the 93-74 win.
Four Panthers scored in double figures, led by
Abdoulaye Thiam who went off from beyond the arc with six threes. He led the game with 27 points going 8-for-12 from the field, 6-for-9 from deep and a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.
"It felt great to get out on the floor and play a game after a two week layoff, Head Coach
Alan Huss stated. "The guys competed on both ends today. Additionally, I was pleased with their unselfishness. We are excited to get back to work tonight and prepare for a difficult challenge in the CBI semifinals."
Site: Ocean Center
Score: High Point 93, Cleveland State 74
Records: High Point (25-8, 13-3), Cleveland State )
From the jump, High Point set out on a mission and took the lead early. Two free throws from
Duke Miles gave HPU its largest advantage thus far in the game, 14-8 at the 13:58 mark.
Thiam had a balanced game, scoring 14 of his 27 points in the first half after knocking down three of his five three-pointers. He helped extend the Panthers lead to seven, 26-19, with seven minutes to go in the first after taking a strong drive baseline for the layup.
High Point kept the pressure on as
Kimani Hamilton converted on two back-to-back layups inside the paint to help the Panthers take an 11-point lead, forcing the Vikings to call a time out.
A layup from Miles before the break made it 46-30 going into the locker room.
At the start of the second half, HPU opened the game up and set the tone through the remaining 20 minutes of action. Three three-pointers from Thiam pushed High Point's lead to 20 in the first four minutes of play.
Cleveland State cut the game to 13 at the 10:58 mark but the Panthers did not settle and pressed on to a 25-point gap after capitalizing on missed shot attempts by CSU.
With five minutes to go in the game, HPU continued to focus on working the ball and finding the best option.
After a made three pointer from
Kezza Giffa with just under three minutes to go, the Vikings scored six more points before the end of the game to make it 93-74.
The Panthers shot 66% as a team inside the paint and 35% from outside the three-point line (9-26). HPU out rebounded CSU 40-33, which allowed for the Panthers to take advantage of second chance opportunities and score 14 points.
Up Next:
High Point moves on to the semifinals to play the winner of No. 4 Arkansas State and No. 5 Montana. The game is set to tip-off at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26 inside the Ocean Center. The game will air on ESPN2.
#GoHPU
