HIGH POINT, N.C. – Five seniors –
Terry Anderson,
Owen Aquino,
Vincent Brady II,
Rob Martin and
Scotty Washington – showed out on Senior Night as the High Point University men's basketball team defeated Radford, 86-77, Saturday evening in front of a record crowd of 7,202 people. The victory extended the Panthers' winning streak to six games, their second-longest streak of the season.
Anderson recorded his seventh 20-plus point game of the season, finishing with a team-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Aquino posted his first double-double of the season and his 11th double-digit scoring performance of the season, contributing with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Washington added 15 points and four rebounds, Brady II poured in 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and Martin chipped in 13 points, four assists and two steals.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 86, Radford 77
Records: High Point (22-4) (10-1), Radford (13-13) (6-5)
Head Coach Flynn Clayman: "We obviously have a couple more home games, but great group of seniors. Some of them have gotten everything that they kind of individually thought it was going to be this year. Others have taken kind of a different role. But what we definitely have is super high character seniors that are gonna go into this world and do good things as husbands, as fathers. These guys are really, really high character."
Prior to tipoff, eight seniors – Anderson, Aquino, Brady II,
Babacar Diallo,
Cam'Ron Fletcher,
Chase Johnston, Martin and Washington were honored on the court.
Aquino and Washington got the Panthers off to a hot start as Aquino earned two early baskets inside the paint, and Washington buried a three-pointer and converted a layup to help HPU jump out to a 9-6 lead.
Brady II found his rhythm, throwing down a breakaway two-handed jam and connecting on a pair of three-pointers to give HPU its largest lead of the game, 21-14.
The final 7:59 of the first half was all Anderson, recording 10 points and guiding the Panthers on an 18-11 scoring run to close out the first half with a 39-37 advantage.
Three Panthers went into halftime in double-figures with Anderson, Washington and Brady II each scoring 10 points, on a combined 10-19 shooting. High Point shot 41.2% from the field and 77.8% at the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
HPU started the second half off on an 8-5 scoring drive, fueled by buckets from Anderson, Aquino and Martin, to extend the Panthers' lead, 47-42.
After briefly falling behind, the Panthers responded with an 11-4 scoring run, highlighted by four points from Aquino, to regain the lead for HPU, 59-55. Aquino bullied his way to the basket and earned himself a bucket plus the foul to give HPU its first double-digit lead of the game, 70-60, with 5:51 remaining in the game.
The Panthers battled it out down the stretch, but were able to extend their lead at the free-throw line, converting 12-of-13 attempts in the final 4:23 to secure the 86-77 victory.
HPU has now won nine consecutive games against Radford and sweeps the regular-season series against the Highlanders for the third straight year. High Point shot 41 percent from the field and converted 31 of its 37 free throws (83.8 percent), their second-best percentage at the at the charity stripe this season. For the fifth game in a row, the Panthers recorded double-digit steals, finishing with 12, while forcing 19 Radford turnovers that led to 24 points.
Up Next:
The Panthers travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on USC Upstate on Thursday, February 12, at 7:00 p.m.
#GoHPU x #OnTheProwl
