HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's basketball team controlled the tempo from start to finish, to win its fourth game in a row on Sunday afternoon in the Qubein Center against Pfeiffer University, 123-64. This was the Panthers' third game scoring over 100 points this season.
The Panthers were extraordinary inside the paint throughout the entirety of the 40 minutes of play. HPU out-muscled Pfeiffer near the basket, outscoring the Falcons, 72-22. HPU was also excellent in getting out in transition and scoring easy baskets, recording 40 fastbreak points and 32 points off turnovers.
HPU earned 72 of its 123 points from its bench players as four non-starters finished in double-figures with
Cam'Ron Fletcher leading the game in scoring with 18 points, shooting 8-9 from the court and connecting on his only attempted three-pointer, to go along with six rebounds.
Conrad Martinez added 15 points on 6-8 shooting overall and 3-5 from the three-point line, and tallied seven assists.
Vincent Brady II tied his season-high in points with 14 with six rebounds, four steals and three assists, and
Caden Miller finished with 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Overall, the Panthers had seven players score in double-digits, with
Terry Anderson scoring 14,
Owen Aquino knocking in 12 points and
Scotty Washington ending with 11 points as well.
Head Coach Flynn Clayman: "It was a good a way to end the non-conference. I'm proud of these guys. A couple things to note from this game was our point guard play... 13 assists and zero turnovers, that's tough to do. Then we had nine offensive rebounds from our bench, our two back-up bigs and Vincent [Brady]. Now we're turning the page to a really big matchup at UNC Asheville to start conference play."
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 123, Pfeiffer 64
Records: High Point (12-3), Pfeiffer (4-6)
Washington and
Braden Hausen got things going at the free-throw line with five made attempts for the first points of the game for HPU. Vincent Brady intercepted a Pfeiffer pass and pushed the quick tempo up court, leading him to lob the ball up high to Fletcher, who caught the pass and slammed home the two-handed dunk as the Panthers jumped out to a 9-5 lead.
HPU set the tone of the game early, jumping out to an early 11-point lead, 18-7, after back-to-back possessions with a basket. Fletcher snatched a defensive rebound, took one dribble, and passed the ball up ahead to Brady II for the two-handed jam. The next possession, Martinez grabbed the defensive rebound, led the offense up the court, and eventually dropped the ball off to Miller for the finish at the rim.
The Panthers extended their lead to 30-9 with 11:59 remaining in the first half after knocking down a pair of three-pointers. Anderson grabbed a steal, led the transition up court, and shot the ball to the right wing, where Fletcher would knock down his first three-pointer of the game. The next defensive possession, it was Anderson again, this time grabbing a defensive rebound, pushing the transition again, and the outcome was the same, a made three-pointer, this time from Martinez on the right wing.
It was the Martinez show as he was able to showcase his shooting ability as well as his ability to get inside the paint and get a bucket.
Chase Johnston drove inside the paint and kicked the ball to the left wing, where Martinez would nail the three-ball. The next offensive possession, Martinez showed his inner Allen Iverson as he crossed up his defender to create space, drove to the cup, and finished the left-handed layup to complete a 19-0 scoring run for HPU and push the Panthers' lead to 37-9.
Hausen, Washington and Martin each drilled a three-pointer for the team's seventh made three-pointer out of 13 attempts to give HPU the 52-19 advantage with 3:52 remaining until halftime. The Panthers went into the half up 59-25, but not before Hausen intercepted a pass right under the basket and was able to put the ball right back up for two points right before halftime to cap off a 7-6 scoring run heading into halftime.
Martinez was the only player on either side in double-figures after 20 minutes of action with 11 points on 4-5 shooting overall and 3-4 shooting from the perimeter. It was a balanced scoring attack in the first half as five other Panthers tallied at least five points in the first half, including Aquino, Washington, Fletcher, Hausen and Martin, and 10 of the 11 players that saw minutes, scored.
As a team, the Panthers were tremendous shooting the ball, shooting 58.3 percent overall from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe. HPU was also able to force nine Pfeiffer turnovers and grab six steals, resulting in 16 fastbreak points and 17 points off turnovers.
HPU kicked off the second half on a 9-3 scoring run to extend HPU's lead to 68-28, which was led by a three-pointer by Washington and six points from Anderson to put him in double-digit scoring with 10 points.
The Panthers continued their dominance near the basket, scoring 16 straight points inside the paint, which was capped off by a one-handed thunderous slam by Brady II over his defender for the foul and three-point play to get the entire Qubein Center crowd on its feet as HPU extended its large lead, 88-45.
Martinez and
Caden Miller went back-and-forth on the scoring attack as they each recorded a pair of buckets inside the paint as HPU went up, 98-51.
Brady II played crucial minutes off the bench late in the game, tallying seven straight points and single-handedly outscoring Pfeiffer 7-4, which included earning two hard-earned and-one conversions and going 3-4 at the free throw line to push HPU's advantage, 110-55.
The Panthers ended the game on a 13-6 scoring run to seal the 123-46 victory. This was HPU's third-largest win of the season and the third-most points the Panthers have scored in a game this season.
HPU finished with one of its best shooting performances of the season, shooting 63.5 percent overall from the field for its third-best shooting percentage thus far. HPU shot 47.6 percent from long range for its fourth-best mark this season, while also converting 19 of its 24 free-throw attempts.
On the other side of the ball, the Panthers forced 16 Pfeiffer turnovers and grabbed 10 steals, which allowed the Panthers to excel in the open court and on fastbreak opportunities.
Up Next:
The Panthers open Big South Conference play on the road against UNC Asheville on Wednesday, December 31, at 2:00 p.m. in Asheville, N.C. at Kimmel Arena.
#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl
