• Sophomore Jahaad Proctor scored a career-high 29 points in the Panthers’ 80-59 win
• Junior Andre Fox added 20 points, his third-consecutive game of 20 or more points
• The Panthers used a 19-6 run to open the second half to break open the contest
HIGH POINT, N.C. — Behind a career-high 29 points from sophomore Jahaad Proctor and 15 second-half points from junior Andre Fox, the High Point University men’s basketball team pulled away from Charleston Southern, 80-59, Saturday night (Jan. 6) at the Millis Center.
With a halftime lead of 34-24, the Panthers (7-7, 2-1 Big South) opened up the second half on a 19-6 run and never looked back. Junior Andre Fox had 10 points in the run where HPU went 8-9 from the floor.
High Point shot 50.9 percent from the field (29-57), while holding Charleston Southern (6-8, 1-2) to 33.9 percent shooting (20-59). The Bucs held the advantage on the glass, 37-33. The Panthers had eight steals and scored 22 points off of 15 CSU turnovers.
“It was another tremendous game from our guys tonight,” HPU head coach Scott Cherry said. “Defensively, that was one of the best overall performances, from start to finish. Holding them to 33 percent (shooting), to 23 percent from three and 59 points, I give our guys a lot of credit for locking into the game plan and going out there and executing.
“Offensively, we’re starting to get into a rhythm, running the floor, getting transition baskets and finding each other. We made some unbelievable drives and kick outs. Overall, our guys were looking to help each other out across the board.”
Proctor scored the first eight points of the game for the Panthers and finished with 19 points in the first half and 29 for the game. Proctor’s previous career high was 28 against William & Mary on Nov. 10.
Fox finished with 20 points, the third-consecutive game and eighth time this season he has scored 20 or more points. Sophomore Brandonn Kamga added 12 points, while senior Jordan Whitehead and Fox led the team with six rebounds each.
In the first half, the Panthers led 20-15 with 7:33 to go in the half when they went on a 14-4 run over the next six minutes, including 3-pointers from Fox, Proctor and sophomore Jamal Wright. Charleston Southern’s Christian Keeling made a three at the buzzer to bring the halftime score to a 34-24 advantage for HPU.
The Panthers have won four of the last meetings with the Bucs, who were led by Cortez Mitchell, who had 18 points.
Next up, the Panthers travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., to take on Gardner-Webb on Tuesday (Jan. 9) at 7 p.m.