HPU Men’s Basketball Edges Coastal Carolina For 77-74 Road Victory

CONWAY, S.C. — The High Point University men’s basketball team gutted out a 77-74 win over Coastal Carolina, scoring the last four points on Wednesday night at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. Redshirt-sophomore John Brown scored 19 points and junior Devante Wallace scored 17 for the Panthers.

High Point trailed, 74-73, when Coastal Carolina’s Badou Diagne hit a layup with 39 seconds to play. HPU sophomore Adam Weary was called for an offensive foul on the next play. The Panthers forced a turnover on the ensuing Coastal possession and Wallace was able to hit a quick layup to give HPU the lead back. Sophomore guard Haiishen McIntyre hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds on the clock and the Chanticleers couldn’t score on their last possession.

High Point won its fourth game in a row, improving to 10-12 overall and 6-3 in Big South play. The Panthers remained atop the Big South North Division standings with the victory. Coastal Carolina fell to 13-10 overall and 6-3 in the league. The Chanticleers are tied for the South Division lead.

“It was a bunch of kids fighting until the end,” said HPU head coach Scott Cherry. “When Adam was called for that foul with 34 seconds left, the guys came into the huddle and said they’d get the ball back. I’m really proud of our effort. It took all nine guys who played to win that game.”

Wallace shot 6-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, scoring 12 of his 17 points in the second half. Brown shot 7-for-11 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line and Weary scored 14 points. Brown and Lorenzo Cugini each grabbed seven rebounds and Cugini chipped in 11 points.

Coastal Carolina’s Diagne had game highs of 21 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Elijah Wilson scored 16 points and junior Warren Gillis scored 15.

HPU trailed 39-36 to start the second half but came back quickly, tying the game on a Weary three-pointer and taking the lead on a fast-break layup by Weary that made it 43-41 Panthers. The game stayed close the rest of the way as there were seven lead changes and eight ties in the second half.

High Point had its largest lead of seven points (66-59) when Wallace drained a three-pointer to cap a 9-2 run. The Chanticleers came back with their own 9-2 run to tie the game at 68-68 on a Wilson layup with 4:17 to go. Cugini hit a three-pointer coming out of a timeout, but it remained close and Coastal led in the final minute on Diagne’s layup, setting up the frantic final 34 seconds.

Brown scored High Point’s first 11 points of the game but HPU trailed early. High Point’s only lead of the first half came when freshman Anthony Lindauer hit consecutive three-pointers followed by an alley-oop from Cugini to Brown that made it 28-27 Panthers.

High Point shot 49.1 percent from the floor, 50 percent (10-for-20) from three-point range and 92.9 percent (13-for-14) from the free throw line. Coastal Carolna shot 52.7 percent from the floor and hit all nine of its three-point attempts.

High Point is back on the road Saturday when the team travels to Gardner-Webb for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Boiling Springs, N.C. It’s the only time the teams meet during the regular season.