HPU ends season at Radford

High Point University’s men’s basketball team fell to top-seeded Radford University 82-58 in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament.

HPU (9-21) could not stop the inside presence allowing Radford (19-11) to score 38 points in the paint. In the second half, High Point also shot a dismal 11-for-35 from the floor for 31.4 percent.

HPU to play in March despite loss

Despite losing Saturday night, HPU clinched the final spot of the Big South tournament.

VMI (22-7, 13-5 Big South) won their first contest in High Point, 81-76.  HPU (9-20, 4-14) had four players finish with double figures.

Melvin Crowder shined in his final home game in front of 1,642 in attendance.  Crowder finished with a career best 14 points, including four 3-pointers.

HPU falls in overtime

High Point University lost another close game Tuesday night against UNC-Asheville. The Bulldogs (13-14, 9-7 Big South) defeated the Panthers (8-18, 4-12) in overtime, 81-78.

“It another disappointing loss. We played hard it’s just the little things that were not doing that are costing us the games,” Jourdan Morris said.

The Panthers were lead by inside forces Cruz Daniels and Jourdan Morris. Daniels finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Morris tallied his first 20-point outing, finishing with 21 points and three assists. Nick Barbour scored double-digits for the eighth straight game with 14 points.

“[Head] Coach [Bart] Lundy told us in practice we were going to have advantage of size. That’s just it. We just worked on getting it inside,” said Daniels. HPU outscored UNCA 40-30 in the paint.

Down by as many as 12 in the second half, the Panthers used an 11-0 run to claw back into the game before a hectic final minute.

HPU took a two-point lead with 1:50 left in the game. It was the first lead in over 33 minutes of play. Asheville regained the lead with 45 seconds thanks to a layup from John Williams.

Cruz Daniels flushed a dunk after a David Singleton missed layup to tie the game for the sixth time. Williams responded with his own dunk on the other end of the court with four seconds remaining.

David Singleton drove the length of the court to pass off to Gene Harris who made a jumper on the baseline at the buzzer.

“I just had to throw it up and just lucky it went in,” Harris said following the game.
The Bulldogs controlled the overtime period. The Panthers never held a lead in the extra five minutes of play, trailing by no more than three points.

The first half featured high shooting percentage for both squads. UNCA shot 16 of 26 from the floor for 61.5 percent. The Panthers shot 15 of 27 from the floor for 55.6 percent.

Hurting High Point were the 12 turnovers. Asheville scored seven points off of HPU’s turnovers. The Bulldogs had a seven point lead heading into halftime.

“Really it comes down to playing hard. We are going to learn from this mistake and we are going to try to work on the next game,” Daniels said.

High Point takes the floor next Monday against Longwood University. The Lancers are 14-12 on the year including wins over George Washington, James Madison and Gardner-Webb. LU is 2-9 on the road and will bring a two game road losing streak to the Millis Center Feb. 23.

High Point takes down VMI

            High Point University (12-9, 4-3) ran past Reggie William-less Virginia Military Institute (10-10, 2-4) 90-71 Saturday night.

 

            HPU had four players in double figures led by Arizona Reid and Mike Jefferson at 22 points apiece.  Reid finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals.  Jefferson finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.  Cruz Daniels finished with 16 points and four blocks and Eugene Harris had 14 points.

 

            The game was a tale of two halves as High Point trailed by as many as eight through the first half.  VMI led the whole half with no ties.  Most of the half had the Keydets up four points.

 

            Coming out of the break HPU had to overcome a seven point deficit.  The first seven minutes of the second frame, the Panthers outscored the home team 21-6.  In five more minutes High Point stretched the lead to 18 at 72-54 with 6:26 left.

 

            The next four minutes, HPU’s scoring drought was VMI’s scoring monsoon.  A 17-6 run made the game 78-71.  The Keydets would not score within the final 2:50.

 

            For HPU the rebounds and three pointers were crucial to victory.  The Panthers out-rebounded VMI 46-25.  The Keydets, normally high scoring, three point machine, went 3-21 from deep.  VMI could not stop the inside game either.  HPU scored 58 points from the paint and 26 fast break points.  High Point also know it is better to give as they had 26 assists compared to VMI’s 10.

 

            With his six rebounds, Reid became the first player in Big South history to record 1,800 points and 900 rebounds.  At his current pace, Reid will finished with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.  Reid also became the career leader in High Point history for steals with his second steal of the game.  He has 142 career steals now.

 

            HPU begins the second half of Big South play Wednesday against Liberty University in the Millis Center.  Game time is scheduled start at 7 pm.  Last time the teams met, LU won by four.