DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – The High Point University men's basketball team rose to the top by defeating the University of Incarnate Word, 91-80, in the 2025 Geico Boardwalk Battle championship game in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Saturday night to extend the Panthers' win streak to three games. This was the first MTE win since 2022, when HPU won the SoCal Tournament.
 
Cam'Ron Fletcher was tabbed the tournament MVP after tallying a career-high 27 points on 9-12 shooting last game against UIC, and a double-double against UIW with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Terry Anderson was named to the All-Tournament team after recording a season-high 23 points, shooting 10-12 from the field, to go along with four rebounds against UIW.
 
Three more Panthers scored in double-figures as Conrad Martinez tallied 13 points, six assists and five rebounds (two offensive), Owen Aquino finished with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. Washington added 10 points on a perfect 3-3 shooting night.
  
Site: Ocean Center
Score: High Point 91, UIW 80
Records: High Point (6-1), UIW (3-3)
 
After a scoreless first two minutes for HPU, it was Anderson who put the Panthers on the board with not just one, but three straight buckets inside the paint to close UIW's lead, 8-6.
 
A pick and roll was executed perfectly as Martinez came off the screen and lobbed the ball to Josh Ibukunoluwa, who punched home the two-handed throw down for his first points of the tournament to make it 16-14, UIW, with 12:10 remaining in the first half.
 
After two three-pointers last game from Washington, he continued his tremendous shooting in the tournament with the team's first three-pointer of the game to bring UIW's lead within two, 21-19.
 
Anderson's dominance inside the paint continued as he muscled his way to the basket and finished the bucket for two points to put him in double-digits for the game, and narrow UIW's lead, 27-24, with 8:21 left in the first half.
 
Martinez gave HPU its first lead of the game, 33-32, with 4:25 remaining in the half, after he was fouled on a three-point shot, went to the free-throw line and drained all three free-throw attempts.
 
HPU continued its scoring run of 7-0 and extended its lead to the Panthers' largest thus far of the game, five points, 37-32. Fletcher's defensive instincts earned him a steal as he pushed the ball ahead to Rob Martin, who returned it right back to Fletcher to finish the basket for two.
 
Caden Miller made his presence known on the offensive glass as he snatched down an offensive rebound off a missed shot from Martin and put the ball back up for the second-chance opportunity, pushing HPU's lead, 41-37.
 
The Panthers closed out the first half with Fletcher splashing a three-pointer from the right wing for the team's second made three-point shot of the game to put HPU up at halftime, 46-40.
 
Martinez led the way at the end of the half with 11 points, shooting 9-10 from the charity stripe. Anderson had 10 points and two offensive rebounds, and Fletcher added nine points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.
 
The Panthers were near perfect from the free-throw line in the first half, going 16-18 from the line. HPU shot 46.7 percent from the field overall.
 
Anderson tallied the team's first points to start the first half, and to start the second half, it was the same outcome, as he tallied the team's first two points of the half inside the paint for his 12th point.
 
The Panthers extended their lead to its largest of the game, 16 points, 61-47, after three straight buckets from Fletcher to force a UIW timeout. Martinez cut through the lane and shot the ball to the right corner, and Fletcher drained his second three-ball of the game. The next possession, it was Martinez again who cut through the lane and this time tossed the ball up high to where only Fletcher could slam home the alley-oop jam. Then, it was an Aquino steal that got the Panthers out in transition, which finished with Fletcher converting a layup to put him at 18 points for the game.
 
Anderson could not be stopped in the paint as he scored back-to-back layups to tally a season-high in points with 20.
 
Washington sank his second triple in back-to-back games. Anderson found Washington on the left wing as he stepped up and fired the ball into the net for three and a 70-50 HPU lead.
 
Washington brought out all the moves to show he's got more in his game than just shooting the ball as he euro stepped his way to the cup for the finish and his third bucket of the game as the Panthers extended their lead, 76-57, with 9:18 remaining in the game.
 
Anderson proved that he is a three-level scorer, knocking down a three-pointer from the right wing with under five seconds on the shot clock for his first basket coming outside of the paint, pushing HPU's lead back over double-digits, 81-70.
 
With under one minute to go and a seven-point lead for HPU, Martin attacked the basket and missed the shot; however, Aquino came up with the huge offensive rebound and putback bucket for two points to extend the Panthers' lead to nine points with 50.4 seconds left.
 
A missed shot by UIW was rebounded by Anderson and pushed ahead to Martin as he then passed the ball to Martinez for the layup to seal the win and tournament title for HPU, 91-80.
 
The Panthers had a fantastic shooting performance as they shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second-half and 53.6 percent overall while also sinking 83.9 percent of their free-throws.
 
HPU was dominant in the paint and on the fastbreak the entire game, recording 48 points inside the paint and 26 fastbreak points.
 
Up Next:
The Panthers return to the Qubein Center on Saturday, November 29, for a matchup against Western Carolina at 7:00 p.m.