High Point MBB wins at Longwood, 88-80

• Senior Adam Weary posted a career best 26 points and tied the school record for free throws without a miss (14-14)
• HPU shot 48 percent and distributed 19 assists on 25 made field goals
• High Point went 32-of-35 from the line (.914); The 32 free throws made were fourth most in HPU Div. I history

FARMVILLE, Va. – The High Point University men’s basketball team (17-9, 10-5) rode an excellent offensive performance to an 88-80 road victory over Longwood (8-20, 4-11) Thursday night inside Willett Hall.

The Panthers led 37-31 at the half, but Longwood climbed within three (65-62) with five minutes to play. HPU made the key plays down the stretch, though, and was +5 (23-18) over the game’s final minutes to secure the win.

High Point shot 48.1 percent from the floor and dished out 19 assists on 25 made field goals. The Panthers also connected on 40 percent (6-15) of their 3-point attempts and held a 26-11 edge in bench scoring. HPU is now 12-1 when its bench scores at least 20 points.

HPU’s 19 assists were the most for the Panthers since a 19-dime effort vs. Radford on Dec. 31.

HPU had an excellent night at the free throw line, converting 32-of-35 attempts (.914). The 32 made free throws were the fourth most in program history, while the 91.4 percentage also ranked fourth-best in Div. I annals.

The Panthers also were lethal in transition, turning 11 Longwood turnovers into a 20-6 edge in points off turnovers for the game.

Senior Adam Weary led the Panthers with a career-best 26 points and dished out a game-high four assists. The Memphis native was a perfect 14-of-14 from the line, which ties a program record for most free throws without a miss originally set by teammate John Brown vs. Radford (2/15/14).

“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on free throws in practice and I think it’s paying off. I felt comfortable at the line tonight,” Weary said. “Road games are always tough and this was an important win for us. Longwood is extremely physical and gets into the passing lanes. I thought we did a good job of executing our game plan to get the win.”

Brown added 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting (8-10 FT) and dished out three assists in 29 minutes. Junior Anthony Lindauer chipped in 12 points (4-7 FG) and three assists while senior Haiishen McIntyre added nine points (4-6 FG) and tied a career high with six steals.

Longwood held a 9-8 lead at the 15:49 mark of the first half, but HPU attacked with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to build a 17-9 advantage. A great look from Madison to Brown extended the lead to 12 (30-18) with 5:36 to go in the half, but from there, the Lancers hit a trio of triples to fuel an 11-0 spurt. The run cut HPU’s lead to one (30-29) with three minutes to play in the stanza.

HPU answered with five-straight points to quell the Longwood surge and entered the half ahead, 37-31. The Panthers made 10 assists on their 12 first half field goals.

The Lancers scored the first six points of the second half to tie the game (37-37), then took a 46-43 lead on a 3-pointer by Shaquille Johnson at the 14:25 mark of the stanza.

HPU answered with a 7-1 spurt to retake the lead at 50-47, then extended that edge to seven (59-52) on a thunderous alley oop slammer from Brown off a great look from McIntyre.

Longwood cut the lead to three (65-62) with 4:55 to play, but HPU put together a number of key offensive possessions to put the game away from there.

Fox nailed a triple from the wing to put HPU up, 68-62. Then with the Panthers still in front by six (70-64), great ball movement from Brown to Lindauer led to an open triple for Weary, who nailed it to extend the lead to nine (73-64) with 3:21 to go.

The Lancers could not move closer than six for the remainder of the game.

With the victory, HPU improves to 20-6 all time against Longwood. The Panthers have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with the Lancers.

High Point remains on the road to play the second game of a Virginia-two step Saturday when the Panthers suit up against Radford inside the Dedmon Center. Tip off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.