• High Point dropped to 1-1 in the Big South after falling to Longwood at home, 60-55
• Redshirt-senior Miles Bowman Jr., led HPU with 17 points and nine rebounds on the day.
• High Point returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 4, when the team hosts Winthrop at the Millis Center.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s basketball team dropped a 60-55 decision to Longwood at home in the Millis Center on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt-senior Miles Bowman Jr., paced the Panthers with 17 points and nine rebounds on the day.
Bowman Jr., went 6-15 from the floor and 4-5 from the line to lead HPU in scoring for the fifth time this season. Senior Anthony Lindauer finished in double figures with 13 points and sophomore Andre Fox added 11 off the bench.
Khris Lane led Longwood in scoring on the day with 18 points on 8-21 shooting while Isaiah Walton finished with 16 and nine rebounds.
“I don’t think it was a good performance by this group today,” head coach Scott Cherry said. “This is league play and this is how it works. You have to be able to turnaround in a short time and be able to play well with little preparation. Credit to Longwood, they made plays at the end and we didn’t. That’s what it came down to. We didn’t take care of the ball well enough and we had opportunities late but we didn’t capitalize.”
The game was tied at 50-50 with two minutes left when Longwood scored seven unanswered on a layup by Walton, a 3-pointer by Lane and two free throws by Walton. High Point pulled back within a possession thanks to a 3-pointer from Lindauer and a free throw by Bowman Jr., after the forward was fouled on the shot, but Longwood made just enough free throws down the stretch to keep HPU at bay.
The loss drops High Point to 7-7 overall on the season and 1-1 in the Big South while Longwood improved to 5-8 overall and 2-0 in the conference with its second-straight win.
High Point struggled from the field to start the game and fell behind early, trailing by as much as nine, 13-4, seven minutes into the contest. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bowman Jr., and Lindauer got the Panthers back into the contest, pulling HPU back within two at 13-11 midway through the half.
Down by five, 20-15, with five minutes to play in the opening period, the Purple & White scored six-straight to take their first lead of the game at 21-20. Fox had two free throws and the go-ahead tip-in while Bowman Jr. also found the bottom of the net during the run. Longwood answered the HPU surge with back-to-back buckets from behind the arc by Walton to go back up by five and carried that lead into the locker room at the break.
The Panthers continued to trail by five, 48-43, with eight minutes to play when Lindauer hit a jumper from the top of the key and Bowman Jr. followed with a layup and a free throw to tie the game at 48-48 one minute later.
High Point remains home for its next contest, as the Panthers will face off with Winthrop on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Tip in the game is set for 7 p.m.