HIGH POINT, N.C. - In front of 5,988 fans in attendance, the High Point University men's basketball team led the entire game and extended its win streak to seven games with an 83-72 win over Longwood University on Saturday night on ESPNU as
Kimani Hamilton and
Kezza Giffa each led the way for the Panthers with 18 points.
"I thought our guys did some good things. Josh [Ibukunoluwa] next to me gave us a nice lift off the bench. Scored some baskets, got some rebounds. We did enough," said Head Coach
Alan Huss. "I think you saw what makes us dynamic. The other night [Juslin Bodo] Bodo carried us, tonight Josh comes in and he gave us a huge lift. There has been other nights that Simon has been the guy. Having all three of those guys is why we are poised to make a run. If one guy does not have his best stuff in a night then other guys can step up."
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 83, Longwood 72
Records: High Point (22-5, 10-2), Longwood (16-10, 5-6)
A miss inside the paint from the Panthers led to Hamilton cleaning up the glass with a second-chance putback jam for the first points of the game for HPU. Hamilton was getting his teammates involved as well as he found
Chase Johnston on the right wing for three points to give HPU an early 5-0 lead.
Giffa put a beautiful move on his defender, leading to him putting up a perfectly arched floater off the glass. With the shot clock ticking down, Giffa splashed down a three-pointer from the top of the logo to give the Panthers a 19-16 lead.
Hamilton pushed the fast break and found a wide-open
Trae Benham in the corner behind the three-point line for three points. Pettiford found Bodo slipping to the basket as he punched home the two-handed slam to help HPU's 13-2 scoring run and advance its lead to 12 points, 28-16.
A deflected pass from Ibukunoluwa allowed Johnston to make his way up the court and make the unselfish pass to Giffa for the layup. Hamilton pushed the ball up the floor, giving it off to Johnston for his second made triple of the game.
Pettiford closed out the first half with an attack and left-handed finish at the basket to give HPU the 40-25 halftime lead. Giffa led all scorers going into the second half with 11 points.
D'Maurian Williams put some swifty moves on his defender before knocking down a runner inside the paint for the first points coming out of halftime for the Panthers. Williams would then find Giffa on the next possession from beyond the arc for the corner triple to give him 14 points on the night up to that point. Williams kept adding to the stat sheet as he buried a three-pointer from the top of the arc to further HPU's lead, 55-34.
A missed three-pointer from Hamilton allowed Ibukunoluwa to follow the ball and throw down the high-flying putback dunk for HPU's 19th offensive rebound of the game.
"I was feeling amazing. The crowd was loud. I saw him [Hamilton] line up to shoot a three from five-feet out… and no one boxed me out so I jumped up as high as I could and I got it so it was great," said Ibukunoluwa.
The quick hands from Hamilton allowed him to steal the ball, give it to Ibukunoluwa, who then found Pettiford up the court for the powerful one-handed slam to give the Panthers a 70-57 lead with 4:47 remaining in the game.
Bodo got in the action on the glass as he snagged an offensive rebound and earned himself a tough and-one layup. Before the shot clock buzzer sounded, Hamilton hit a step-back three-pointer for his first triple of the game. The double-team on Hamilton allowed him to find a wide open Ibukunoluwa in the paint for the dunk to put him in double-digit scoring with a career-high, 10 points.
"I have just been trying to stay ready the whole time. I have not been playing that much but I finally got a chance and I did alright so just thanks to the coaching staff for believing in me, and hopefully I can keep it going," said Ibukunoluwa.
Williams sealed the 83-72 win for HPU with a layup with four seconds remaining. Williams finished with 15 points including 11 in the second half. Hamilton and Giffa led the way in scoring for the Panthers, each scoring 18 points, on a combined 14-26 shooting from the court.
HPU finished as a team with 21 offensive rebounds which included 14 in the first half.
"I thought Trae [Benham] in the first half really gave us some energy on the offensive glass and I thought that was really contagious. Guys were really flying around and trying," said Huss.
HPU extends its win streak to its longest of the season, seven games, and snaps a three-game losing streak against Longwood.
UP NEXT: The Panthers get a day off before they travel down to Rock Hill, S.C. to battle it out versus Winthrop University on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.
#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl
