Site: Farmville Va. (Willett Hall)
Score: Longwood 75, High Point 54
Records: High Point (3-7), 1-4 Big South, Longwood (4-13), 3-8 Big South
Next HPU Event: Wednesday, January 20th VS Longwood, 6:00 PM
FARMVILLE, Va.- The High Point University men’s basketball team dropped a conference contest 75-54 to Longwood on Tuesday night (Jan 19) . Sophomore John Michael Wright was two shy of his season-high as he led the Panthers in scoring with a game-high 27 points. Freshman Ahmil Flowers was second in scoring for the Panthers on the night with nine, he also brought in four rebounds while adding two steals and two assists.
The game started with each side matching the other, a 5-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game for Longwood was met by a five-point run from The Panthers. Lydell Elmore made a layup then on the next offensive possession a three from Wright gave HPU a 7-5 lead.
Longwood answered by going on a 13-0 run after the first media timeout. Bryant Randleman made a steal and found Flowers sprinting towards the rim, the freshman laid it in to bring an end to the Lancer run. After getting a stop the Panthers began to dig into the Longwood lead as Eric Coleman Jr. hit a three to make it 18-12 with 9:47 to play in the first half. The Lancers continued their hot shooting and an 11-2 run made it 29-14 with 6:15 leff in the first half. Flowers would bring the Longwood lead down to 13 as he threw down what was undoubtedly a SportsCenter Top Ten worthy jam over two Lancer defenders. The Lancers ended the first half strongly with a 15-5 run to make the score at the half 44-21.
Wright only scored seven points in the first half of the game which set the stage in the second half for his twenty-point scoring explosion. In the first two minutes of the second half, the Fayetteville native recorded a quick six points off of two three-pointers which brought the score to 45-27 with 18:18 to play. After a few free throws for the Panthers over about four minutes, Wright continued his scoring display as he drove to the basket and gave himself 19 points (53-35). Coleman brought down a defensive rebound then he made a three-pointer on the other end to bring the Lancer lead down to 15 with 13:07 to go (52-38). Less than a minute later Coleman laid in a basket to give himself a fast five points (56-40). The Sophomore ended with eight points on the evening.
With 2:43 to go Wright drove down the lane and scored a layup to give himself 27 points on the night. 27 points is Wright’s second-highest scoring total of the season. Wright’s season-best of 29 came on the opening night of the 2020-21 season on the road against Davidson.
UP NEXT: The Panthers stay in Farmville for game two of their road conference series against the Lancers tomorrow night (Jan. 20) at 6:00 pm.