BOX SCORE
Postgame with Scott Cherry
Nick Barbour (Danville, Va./George Washington) and
Eugene Harris (Pittsburgh, Pa./St. Thomas Moore Prep) each scored 19 points but the Panthers couldn't overcome a second-half scoring drought and took a 77-63 loss to Radford on Sunday afternoon at the Dedmon Center in Radford, Va.
Corey Law (Chesapeake, Va./Deep Creek) scored eight points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the loss.
High Point fell to 11-12 overall and 6-6 in the Big South with the loss while Radford improved to 13-10 overall and 9-4 in Big South play.
"I'm proud of my guys, they played hard, but we just had that stretch in the second half where we didn't score," said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. "Some of it was turnovers but I thought we got some decent looks. We just didn't make them. You can't shoot 30 percent as a team and 20 percent in the second half and expect to win."
High Point lost the opening tip but got the ball back and took the first lead when Barbour hit a trey in transition. Shortly after,
Tehran Cox (Nassau, Bahamas/Fayetteville (Ark.) Christian) hit a three-pointer and
Cruz Daniels (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater) hit a jumper to put HPU up 10-5. Radford came back with the next six points to take an 11-10 lead, the first of eight lead changes in the first half. Barbour's second three-pointer made it 17-15 in favor of HPU before Radford went on a 9-0 run to open up a 24-20 lead.
The Panthers got back to a 31-30 lead when Cox hit a layup but Radford got it right back with a jumper from Laz Trifunovic and a three-pointer from Gorkem Sonmez. The Highlanders had the lead into the final seconds of the first half before Barbour drew a three-shot foul from Blake Smith. He made all three free throws to give HPU a 38-37 lead going into halftime.
The score went back and forth early in the second half before Radford opened up a lead on a two-and-one by Smith to make it 48-43. A two-and-one by Harris got HPU back within three at 52-49 before Radford made three straight baskets to open up a 58-49 lead. A free throw by Art Parakhouski made it a 10-point Radford lead with 9:05 left in the second and the Highlanders held a 61-49 lead shortly after. When Barbour hit a pair of free throws with 7:23 remaining, they were HPU's first baskets in over five minutes.
High Point battled back to cut a 12-point deficit to 66-60 on a trey by Harris with 4:56 left in regulation. A minute later it was 68-62 on a pair of free throws by
Earnest Bridges (Raleigh, N.C./Wake Forest-Rolesville) but the Panthers couldn't get any closer. Joey Lynch-Flohr hit a bucket and free throw and Gorkem hit a three to make it 74-62 with just over a minute remaining. The Panthers fouled in an attempt to get back in it but Amir Johnson went 3-for-4 on free throws in the last minute to close it out.
Smith led Radford with 15 points and Parakhouski had 12 points and 17 rebounds. Five Highlanders scored in double figures.
Four of the Panthers' next six games come at the Millis Center, starting with Coastal Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Charleston Southern on Saturday at 6 p.m. HPU will look for redemption against both schools. Big South-leading Coastal Carolina topped HPU, 75-58, and Charleston Southern beat HPU, 73-69, in January. Saturday's game will be televised live on MASN.