HPU men’s basketball pulls out a 68-58 road win at Presbyterian College

• High Point picked up its eighth win in nine games with a 68-58 win at Presbyterian College on Thursday.
• Redshirt-senior Miles Bowman Jr scored a team-high 16 points on 7-11 shooting for the Panthers.
• HPU matched its season high with 11 steals and forced 18 turnovers that led to 19 points in the win.

CLINTON, S.C. – The High Point University men’s basketball team pulled out a hard-fought 68-58 win on the road at Presbyterian College on Thursday night in Clinton, S.C. Redshirt-senior Miles Bowman Jr. had 16 points to lead all scorers for HPU.

“We will take this road win tonight and move on to the next one,” head coach Scott Cherry said. “This wasn’t our best effort tonight, we gave up too many easy buckets in the second half. This time of the year all you have to do is win games, survive and move on. We made some big winning plays down the stretch and guys stepped up and made their free throws late in the game.”

Bowman Jr. shot 7-11 from the field to lead the Panthers in scoring for the 11th time this season. Senior Tarique Thompson finished with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds while senior Anthony Lindauer shot 3-7 from deep to end the game with 11 points. Freshman Jamal Wright had seven points and led the team with six assists.

Will Adams shot 4-8 from three to lead Presbyterian College with 14 points while Reggie Dillard finished with 13 and Ruben Arroyo scored 12 for the home side.

The win by High Point is its eighth in the past nine games and it moves the Purple & White to 14-11 overall and 8-5 in the Big South this season. Presbyterian College drops to 5-19 overall and 1-12 in the Big South.

High Point held a slim 8-7 lead six minutes into the contest before a 12-2 run by the Panthers opened an 11-point lead for the visitors. Thompson had two buckets and both Lindauer and sophomore Andre Fox connected from deep as HPU got in front, 20-9 with 7:44 to play in the half.

Presbyterian College took advantage of some cold shooting by the Purple & White at the end of the half to close to within seven, 26-19, at the break.

The Panthers continued to lead by seven, 52-45 with five minutes to play when a layup by Thompson and two free throws by Wright pushed the HPU advantage to double digits. The High Point lead would grow to as large as 12, first on a 3-pointer from Bowman Jr., then again on a three from Lindauer.

The Blue Hose pressed in the final minute and pulled to within six but Bowman Jr. scored a layup and then two more free throws by Wright sealed the game for the Panthers.

The Panthers once again won the rebounding battle, 34-29, and had 30 points in the paint. The HPU defense harassed the Blue Hose all night, finishing with 11 steals and forcing 18 turnovers. The Purpla & White score 19 points off turnovers compared to 10 for the hosts.

High Point is back at home in the Millis Center this weekend as the Panthers will host Radford on Saturday, Feb. 11. Tip in the game is set for 7 p.m.