Austin, House power HPU past North Florida
Dec. 4—HIGH POINT — Zack Austin's first dunk in the second half was the most spectacular. His last was the most important.
Finishing a fast break with 1:04 left in regulation, Austin's final slam put High Point University up by more than one possession for the first time in the second half and the Panthers held on to defeat North Florida 93-88 at the Qubein Center.
For the earlier dunk, Austin skied over the Osprey's 6-10 center Jaydn Parker, who starred at West Brunswick. Austin was even impressed after seeing pictures of it after the game.
When he was asked which one he liked better, Austin said the second.
"There was more contact and it was two-handed," Austin said.
The smash put the Panthers (7-1) up 87-83 a little less than a minute after they took a 85-83 lead on Jordan House's bucket that broke the last of eight ties in a second half that also included seven lead changes.
North Florida (2-4) got as close as 89-88 when Carter Henderson hit three free throws after Austin was whistled for a controversial foul as he blocked Henderson's 3-point try with 12.1 seconds remaining.
House was knocked down on the ensuing inbounds play and hit two free throws for a 91-88 lead with 11.4 ticks left. Jarius Hicklen, the Osprey's best 3-point shooter, missed a trey attempt from the right corner as time was running out. Austin grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws for the final margin, which was HPU's biggest lead in the second half.
Austin led the Panthers with 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and House added 23 points and snared six rebounds. They did all the Panthers' scoring in the last 4:20.
"Jaden and Zack have been having great years but Zack has just been steady," High Point coach G.G. Smith said. "Today was the best game of this season. He made his free throws, took good shots, rebounded the ball and helped us win. Those were a couple of great dunks, I can tell you that."
Bryant Randleman added 14 points and Abdoulaye Thiam had 10. Emmanuel Izunabor led the Panthers on the boards with 10 rebounds and Ahmard Harvey added eight.
The Panthers, who trailed by seven early in the second half after a 47-47 tie at the break, drove to the basket the majority of time in the second half for close shots or shooting fouls while taking only six 3-point tries and making none.
"We knew they were going for every pump fake," Austin said. "So it was pump fake, drive to the basket, get a foul, layup, dunk, whatever it was."
Austin was 8 of 14 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line while House was 6 of 15 and 11 of 15. HPU made 29 of 38 free throws for the game while North Florida was 12 of 17.
"They zoned us in the first half and we scored against their zone," Smith said. "We had the matchups off the dribble. I thought they would guard us better but we recognized the mismatches and started driving the ball. We didn't settle for 3s and were able to get to the rim at will. We made our free throws most of the time and Jaden got to the rim and that really helped."
Hendrickson scored 22 in leading the Ospreys. Hicklen had 17. Parker added 14, many of them in the first half, and played sparingly in the second because of foul trouble.
HPU trailed by as many as eight in the first half and rallied from seven back in the last three minutes in forcing a 47-47 tie at the break. The Panthers played much more aggressively in the second half, with Austin's dunk over Parker helping set the tone.
"Coach said some stuff at halftime but it was us coming together," Austin said. "We didn't play well in the first half but the game was tied. We came out and told ourselves we had to put our feet on their necks and show what we are about."
It was the third nailbiter in a four-game winning streak. The 7-1 mark is the best eight-game mark for HPU in the Division I era.
"Our motto is to start fast and finish strong," Smith said. "We've started fast, now its all about the finish. We want to make sure that we're playing this well toward the end of the year. But it's a game-by-game situation. I'm ecstatic about the best start in our Division I history but I'd rather end the season 7-1."
The Panthers face a tough road test at Furman on Tuesday night.
