HIGH POINT, N.C. – On Thursday night, the High Point University Panthers took on the Longwood Lancers on ESPNU. After a solid back and forth battle the teams took it down to the wire for a thrilling final minute of action. Chase Johnston tied the game at 80 all with 11 seconds left on the clock, but after guarding full court with the clock winding down by the second, Longwood hit a last second shot to take the 82-80 win.
 
Site: Brock Center
Score: High Point 80, Longwood 82
Records: High Point (14-5, 3-2), Longwood (14-6, 3-2)
 
Johnston opened the game with a three ball after two and a half minutes of action. Two minutes later, D'Maurian Williams drove inside the lane and connected on the and-one layup before securing the free throw to take a 7-5 lead. From there, High Point trailed through majority of the first half by a basket or two and tied the game six different times.
 
Kimani Hamilton threw down a dunk after trailing down the middle of the court. Catching a pass from Bobby Pettiford, Hamilton put down the two-handed jam to make it 12-11, Longwood at the under 13-minute mark.
 
HPU tied the game at 26 all with six minutes left in the first half off a hand-off from Kezza Giffa to Josh Ibukunoluwa. After going down by three with a minute and a half left in the first, Trae Benham knocked down a three in the corner from an inbounds set to tie the game at 34 all before break.
 
Four minutes into the second half, High Point went down by eight points. Two minutes later, the Lancers took their largest lead of the game at 50-40. High Point chipped away and went on an 11-2 run, cutting the game back to a one-point game with a Johnston three.
 
Through the last 10-minutes of the game, the teams kept it close and made it interesting. Pettiford connected on two baskets in back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 57 all. In the final four minutes of the game, the Panthers trailed by five on three different occasions.
 
At the 2:06 mark, Hamilton took his defender one-on-one in the paint and scored to make it 75-71 with the Panthers trailing by four. Simon Hildebrandt knocked down two free throws at the one-minute mark to keep the Panthers within two,77-75, making it a one possession game. The Lancers scored and went back up by four with 46 seconds to go.
 
High Point came down the court and called time out to draw up a play. Taking it to the hoop, Giffa scored and made it a one possession game a second time at 79-77 with 26 seconds left on the clock. After diving on the floor attempting to get a loose ball, Pettiford was called for a foul, sending the Lancers to the line for two. Longwood knocked down one of two free throws. High Point took the ball out of bounds with 17 seconds left. Coming down the court, Pettiford pitched a pass back to Johnston at the logo who drained the three to tie the game at 80 all with 11 seconds left on the clock.
 
High Point put full court pressure on Longwood as the Lancers came down the court with seconds ticking off the clock. Longwoods Colby Garland pulled up in the lane and knocked down the mid-range jumper to take the 82-80 lead. With two seconds left on the clock HPU's Pettiford took a couple dribbles across half court before firing up a last second shot that missed long by inches.
 
UP NEXT:
High Point has a quick turnaround and will prepare to host Presbyterian College on Saturday, January 18 for the Centennial Celebration game. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. inside the Qubein Center.