HIGH POINT, N.C. - In front of a packed out Qubein Center of 6,214 people for the family weekend game, the High Point University men's basketball team extended its win streak to six-games with a 104-100 overtime thriller win over UNC Asheville on Saturday night. Juslin Bodo Bodo led the way with his third double-double of the season, and a career-high 19 points and 21 rebounds.
"Juslin was just a monster today. He had eight offensive rebounds in 31 minutes. To convert on those plays so many times, to be able to finish, and anchoring our offense with the lob threat that he was and the lob finishes was just tremendous," said Head Coach Alan Huss. "I was really pleased with our group's effort to resolve, to comeback and punchback and get off to a nice start in overtime… Winning in college basketball is very difficult especially when you are playing against a team that is playing confident basketball and is as good offensively as Asheville is."
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 104, UNC Asheville 100
Records: High Point (21-5, 9-2), UNC Asheville (17-7, 8-2)
D'Maurian Williams got the Panther fans on their feet early as he splashed down a wide open three-point basket for the game's first points.
Bodo man-strengthened his way inside the paint, slamming down a two-handed jam. He then left the hoop shaking after catching a beautiful alley-oop pass from Williams.
Bobby Pettiford brought the energy on both sides of the floor, stripping the ball on the defensive end, and then finishing on the offensive end with an acrobatic left-handed layup.
Bodo was a force to be reckoned with above the rim as Kezza Giffa found a soaring Bodo off the screen for a two-handed alley-oop slam over a defender to give HPU the 31-29 lead. Pettiford flew through the paint and dished off a beautiful unselfish pass to Bodo for the powerful dunk for Bodo's 10th point of the game.
Kimani Hamilton and the Panthers got the last word of the first half as Hamilton converted a two-point basket to give HPU the 44-43 halftime lead.
Bodo led the way for the Panthers in the first-half with 10 points and seven rebounds as HPU shot 54.3 percent from the court the first 20 minutes of action.
Hamilton kicked off the second half for HPU with a two-point basket conversion in the paint. A deflected pass by Bodo led to Pettiford pushing it up the court for the fast break layup to regain the lead for HPU, 56-55, with 14 minutes remaining in the second half.
Bodo added to his dominant performance above the rim and on the offensive end as he finished the alley-oop jam which was set up by a wonderfully lobbed pass from Williams.
Giffa and Abdoulaye Thiam knocked down clutch back-to-back three-point buckets to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game, eight points, 72-64. Giffa was not done producing on the offensive side of the ball as he converted an and-one, three-point play layup to push HPU's lead to double-digits for the first time of the night, 75-64.
After a missed three-point attempt for HPU, Bodo snatched down the offensive rebound and converted the and-one, three-point play to add onto his incredible night.
With the Panthers' lead within one point and the game clock under a minute, Pettiford crossed over his defender, creating separation, and buried a jumper to give the Panthers an 86-83 lead with 31 seconds of game time remaining.
After a made three-pointer by UNC Asheville to tie the game up at 86, the top two teams in the Big South Conference standings went into overtime to play another five minutes of basketball.
A missed second-chance opportunity by Bodo allowed for Hamilton to clean up the glass with a putback two-handed dunk to push HPU's lead to four points, 90-86, with 3:32 left in overtime. With the shot clock under three seconds, Giffa drove baseline, finding Simon Hildebrandt for two points to extend the lead for the Panthers, 96-91, with 1:33 remaining in the game.
Just as Pettiford hit a much-needed shot late in the second half, Pettiford came up clutch again late in overtime as he drove to the basket and converted a jumper off the glass with 13 seconds remaining in overtime play to propel HPU's lead, 100-96. HPU surpassed the 100-point mark for the first time all season with the bucket by Pettiford.
"Big shot Bobby. He has just done that throughout his career," said Huss. "He played about as good of a game as you can play… Bobby was tremendous. He made big shots. We definitely want the basketball in his hands at the end of games because he has proven time and time again that he is capable of converting in those situations."
Williams was perfect from the free-throw line in the final remaining seconds, draining four crucial free-throws in the last six seconds to seal the win for HPU, 104-100, in the team's first overtime game of the season.
Six Panthers recorded double-digit scoring as Giffa and Pettiford each totaled 20 points. It was Pettiford's second game of at least 20 points this season. Bodo was dominant on both ends of the floor as he totaled career highs in both points, 19, and rebounds, 21, which included eight offensive rebounds.
"I was just playing to be honest. I wanted to win," said Bodo. "This game was really important for us to win."
Hamilton contributed with 17 points. Williams added 14 points and five rebounds, and Thiam finished with 11 points.
The Panthers extend their win streak to six-games, and with the win HPU is now in first place in the Big South Conference standings.
UP NEXT:
HPU will square off against Longwood University in the Qubein Center on Thursday, February 13 at 7 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPNU which will be the third Panthers' game this season to be aired on ESPNU.
#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl
