HPU men snap losing streak
Jan. 15—HIGH POINT — For the first time in more than a month, the High Point University men's basketball team experienced victory Saturday night.
The Panthers built a double-digit lead late in the first half, didn't buckle when Presbyterian pulled close in the second and won 64-56 inside the Qubein Center, snapping a eight-game losing streak and posting its first win in the Big South Conference after five other tries.
"It's about time," HPU coach G.G. Smith said. "It's been a long time since we got a W. It's been five-six weeks. ... We're happy to get a victory and not be 0-for in the conference."
The Panthers, now 9-9 and 1-5 in the league, had not won since defeating Furman and improving to 8-1 on Dec. 6.
"It's been eye-opening to say the least," guard Bryson Childress. "Like my grandpa and my grandma used to say, the highs shouldn't be too high and the lows shouldn't be too low. When you are 8-1 and you've got the social media buzz going, you get a little full of yourself. This has been a reality check.
"I like the way we've responded. Even the last few weeks, while we've been losing, we've had some of our hardest practices. If we would have a few baskets go in at the right time in a few key games, everything might be good. ... We've had our lows, we've had our highs and we've been fighting this whole time."
Jaden House led the Panthers with 18 points. Abdoulaye Thiam added 16, Bryant Randleman seven and Ahmard Harvey and Emanuel Izunabor six each. Harvey had 10 rebounds.
Down 18-13 with 10:19 left in the first half, the Panthers scored 21 of the next 25 points over eight minutes for a 34-22 cushion with 2:12 left in the period. The run included the Blue Hose scoring on nine straight possessions while HPU scored nine straight points, most of them in transition following blocked shots, turnovers or missed shots, and forging a 26-20 advantage.
The Panthers took the lead at 21-20 on Bryant Randleman's bucket after a blocked PC shot, a layup following a turnover, a free throw after a foul on a fast break and another Randleman bucket following a blocked shot.
"We sat down and guarded extremely well in the first half," Smith said. "We had some good defensive stretches, finally."
HPU led 34-26 at the half and scored the first bucket of the second half. PC scored eight straight points on two 3s and a layup to draw within two.
The Panthers made enough plays to keep the lead as the Blue Hose closed to within one twice, the second time at 48-47 with 8:38 left. After Presbyterian made it 50-48 just over a minute later, HPU scored the next eight points on a House drive the basket, Thiam making two of three free throws after one of at least four fouls Presbyterian committed on 3-points shots, another House drive to the basket and one House free throw that put HPU up 58-48 with 4:28 left.
Presbyterian never pushed the deficit below six the rest of the way.
Thiam (10 points including eight free throws) and House (8) accounted for 18 of the Panthers' 30 second-half points. Most of the offensive sets evolved into House or Randleman driving to the basket or Thiam shooting from outside.
The Blue Hose helped by hitting just 9 of 22 free throws, including 7 of 16 in the second half, while HPU made 16 of 30 for the game.
Jalen Forrest led PC with 15 points and Owen McCormick, who played at Davie County, added 12.
HPU returns to action on Wednesday against Winthrop in the Qubein Center.
