• Miles Bowman Jr. and Haiishen McIntyre each posted a career high 19 points
• HPU outscored Longwood 34-22 over the final 10 minutes
• The Panthers will advance to the semifinals and play No. 4 seed UNC Asheville Saturday at 1 p.m.
BUIES CREEK, N.C.. – The High Point University men’s basketball team (21-9) continued its week-long conquering of adversity with a gutsy, 89-78 win over Longwood Friday in Big South Quarterfinal action.
Already without Big South Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year John Brown for the game, the Panthers also lost all-conference second team member and Lou Henson National Player of the Week Adam Weary just four minutes into the game to a knee injury.
Despite the obstacles, HPU’s resilient bunch kept its composure and executed a precise game plan over the final 10 minutes of the game to earn the victory. With Longwood leading 56-55 with 10:21 to go, High Point outscored the Lancers 34-22 over the remainder of the game to advance to the semifinals.
HPU advances to play No. 4 UNC Asheville tomorrow in semifinal action at 1 p.m.
“This is a special group of kids,” head coach Scott Cherry said. “What we’ve gone through in the last week is difficult to explain. I feel really bad for those our kids [Brown and Weary], but to lose them in two separate instances, our team responded with a great group effort each time. I’m just happy for these kids. This group doesn’t give in and the next man up is always ready.”
The Panthers received outstanding contributions from all spots on the roster Friday. Redshirt-junior Miles Bowman Jr. continued to excel on the brightest of stages, pouring in a career-best 19 points (7-10 FG) and made a personal best 3-pointers. The Winston-Salem native also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in 29 minutes of action. It marked his fourth-straight game with at least 12 points.
Senior Haiishen McIntyre tallied 14 of his career-best 19 points in the second half to go along with a season-high seven assists. He also grabbed four steals. Junior Anthony Lindauer also brought it in the second half with 11 of his 14 points.
Sophomore Austin White added 14 points (4-7 FG) and three assists while senior Lorenzo Cugini chipped in 10 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers.
HPU shot 51 percent (26-51) for the game, including a 54.2 percent (13-24) mark in the second half. The Panthers limited Longwood to 43.9 percent and just 25 percent (4-16) from long distance.
The Lancers held the edge on the glass (36-31) but High Point had an impressive 27-0 advantage in bench scoring.
HPU stormed out of the gate with a purpose in the first half, scoring 19 of the game’s first 21 points to go up 19-2 at the 14:53 mark of the stanza. Longwood responded with a 7-2 spurt to cut the lead to 12 (21-9), but back-to-back buckets from Bowman and Madison pushed the edge back to 16 (31-15) with 5:42 to go in the period.
But from there, the Lancers closed the half on an 18-7 run, getting as close as two (35-33), before Cugini drilled a triple at the buzzer to send HPU into the half ahead, 38-33.
Bowman nailed his third 3-pointer of the game to push HPU back ahead by eight (41-33) just seconds into the second half. Longwood registered seven of the next nine points to pull within one (43-42), but the Panthers got five in a row from Lindauer to go back up five (49-44) at the 14:06 mark.
Longwood rallied back to tie it up at 49-49 and took their first and only lead (56-55) with 10:21 to play. But from there, HPU put together a run full of heart and hustle, using an 11-2 spurt to build its lead back to 10 (69-59) with 5:45 to go. The surge was capped by a Cugini 3-pointer from the wing.
HPU extended the lead to 13 (79-66) on free throws from McIntyre with 2:18 to play anf the Lancers could not move closer than nine for the rest of the game.
The win advances High Point to the Big South semifinals for the first time since 2011-12. HPU’s 21 wins are the third most by a Panther team in the Div. I era.
Weary’s status for Saturday’s game is questionable.