High Point Men’s Basketball Falls in Road Finale at CSU, 76-75

• Senior Tarique Thompson recorded career highs in points (19) and blocks (4)
• Sophomore Andre Fox added 19 points
• Fox and Thompson both went 7-7 from the free throw line

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.—The High Point University’s men’s basketball team fell in its final road game of the regular season in heartbreaking fashion, 76-75 at Charleston Southern Saturday night (Feb. 18) at the Buc Dome in North Charleston, S.C.

With the game tied at 75, CSU’s Christian Keeling drove to the basket with under five seconds to go and was blocked by senior Tarique Thompson, his career-high fourth block of the day, but freshman Jamal Wright was called for a foul on Keeling’s follow-up. The Buc made one of two free throws to give CSU a 76-75 lead and then HPU’s last-ditch three-quarter court shot fell short.

With the loss, the Panthers fell to 14-14 overall and 8-8 in Big South play, while Charleston Southern improved to 10-17 (6-10 Big South).

“I liked how our guys competed,” HPU head coach Scott Cherry said. “Over the course of 40 minutes, I would have liked to have been a little better, but on the road, our kids stayed in it, fought, talked to one another, encouraged each other and were battling. It was a hard-fought game by two teams fighting for position in the tournament and it is unfortunate the way the game had to end.”

Thompson had a career-high 19 points, while sophomore Andre Fox also added 19 points, including 12 in the second half. Two more Panthers scored in double-figures as senior Anthony Lindauer scored 11, including 3-3 from three-point range, and senior Miles Bowman Jr. added 10.

Both Thompson and Fox went 7-7 from the charity stripe as the Panthers as a team was 16-for-18 from the line.

High Point held a slight advantage in rebounding, 29-27, while CSU shot 13 three-pointers to HPU’s nine. Both teams shot well from the floor, with High Point shooting 51 percent (25-49) and the Bucs shooting 50 percent (30-60).

The Bucs came out firing in the first half with six of their first seven field goals coming from behind the arc. CSU built a 21-13 advantage before the Panthers started climbing back on back-to-back buckets from Bowman Jr.

After the Panthers tied the game at 26, the two teams traded buckets before the Bucs built a four-point lead with 2:11 to go in the half. A pair of free throws from both Thompson and Fox knotted the game at 36 to end the half.

CSU had an eight-point lead with 6:30 to go, Thompson’s three-point play tied the game at 3:12 to go. Fox then had a steal and made two free throws to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 70-68. Raemond Robinson of CSU answered with a three and Armel Potter’s jumper gave the Bucs a three-point lead with 1:44 to go.

Thompson’s layup with 1:14 to go was followed by a Potter jumper that brought CSU’s lead back to three at 75-72. Fox scored an old-fashioned three-point play with 26 seconds left that set up the final sequence of the game.

Up next, the Panthers return home for their final two regular-season games, starting with Campbell on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. HPU’s contest with Gardner-Webb is scheduled for Feb. 25 with a 4 p.m. tip-off.