ROCK HILL, S.C. — The High Point University men's basketball team opened up the regular season playing in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon against Furman University. The Panthers made a statement on college hoops' opening night with an impressive 97-71 win over the Paladins, giving first-year Head Coach Flynn Clayman his first win in his coaching debut.
"There was a lot of preparation for this moment." Coach Clayman stated. " There's been a lot of talk about cultures and we have a pretty darn good culture here. These guys have led the country in shot tracker shots in the off season, they've worked on defense - we had 50 deflections tonight - and that just leads to them playing hard in the game. They are all bought in. We have guys taking lesser roles off the bench than they had last year and it just shows the type of culture they want to have. I'm very proud of these guys and I hope we can keep it up."
Site: Rock Hill Sports & Events Center
Score: High Point 97, Furman 71
Records: High Point (1-0), Furman (0-1)
High Point had five players lead the offense in double-figures with senior point guard Rob Martin recording 22 points in his HPU debut. Owen Aquino dominated with 17 points while Cam'Ron Fletcher posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Two of the five in double-figures came from the bench with Conrad Martinez recording 17 points, shooting 66% from the floor, and Terry Anderson shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field with 12 points.
The Panthers went up 14-12 before the under-16 timeout. Martin started off his campaign strongly, scoring all over the court with a quick six points. Fletcher and Aquino also made their presence known in the paint.
High Point then went to the bench, and Anderson and Martinez made their presence known. Anderson bullied his way down to the basket with a layup, and Martinez hit a right-handed floater, springing the Panthers to a 22-12 lead. Furman ended its scoring drought, but then Martinez hit a wide-open three-pointer followed by a layup in transition off a fastbreak pass up from Fletcher.
Martinez stayed hot, hitting another wide-open three-pointer, giving the Panthers a 36-21 lead. Aquino played dominantly, moving defenders around whenever he got the ball in the paint. High Point went up by 19 after Scotty Washington's second basket of the night.
In the first half, the Panthers capitalized repeatedly on Furman's turnovers, heading into the break with a 13-1 advantage in points off turnovers. High Point had three double-digit by the end of the first half and led 55-40. Martin recorded 15 points, Aquino had 13 and Martinez had 10.
Martin began the second half just as dominant, draining a three. Moments later, he found Aquino, who drove and slammed it home to make it a 60-42 game.
Chase Johnston hit his first three-pointer of the season, giving High Point a 17-point lead. Then the smooth transition of the Panthers was seen again, capitalizing with an Anderson layup and a 65-46 score. Vincent Brady II gave the Panthers a 20-point lead with a swishing three of his own. A jumper from Fletcher, two Anderson layups, and a Martin bucket gave High Point a 74-50 lead.
The Panthers kept the ball rolling with an Aquino dunk and a monster Fletcher slam off of an alley-oop to put the Panthers up by 30. Fletcher then scored once again, followed by a pair of three-pointers from Braden Hausen and Martinez. With 4:26 remaining in the game, the Panthers held their 30-point lead making it 93-63.
High Point slowed down the pace for the remainder of the game to outlast the Paladins by 26.
A key factor of the game was High Point's defense which forced 22 turnovers by the Paladins and only gave up three points off turnovers (25-3). With active hands, the Panthers picked up 52 deflections throughout the 40 minutes of action.
Up Next: The Panthers host homecoming weekend at the Qubein Center against the Averett University Cougars on Saturday, November 8th, at 5:00 p.m.
#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl
