High Point Men’s Basketball Picks Up First Win as Holland Scores Career High:Panthers take 90-73 victory over Greensboro College Pride

Site: High Point, N.C. (Millis Center)
Score: High Point 90, Greensboro 73
Records: HPU (1-6, 0-0 Big South), GC (3-2, 0-0 USA South)

Next HPU Event: Monday, Dec. 2 — at North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), 7 p.m.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point University men’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season with a 90-73 win over Greensboro College on Tuesday (Nov. 26) evening. Sophomore Curtis Holland III led the way, scoring a career-high 24 points for the Panthers. It was a night of career highs for the Panthers, with Rob Peterson III grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds.

Caden Sanchez started where he left off, coming off his first career double-double, the redshirt sophomore scored the first four points for the Panthers and finished the night with eight. While High Point led all but 19 seconds of the game, the game stayed close for the majority of the first 20 minutes of play. HPU settled into the game and built a double-digit lead with just over seven minutes to go in the half on a layup from Sanchez, but the Pride did not back down.

Holland III had a big first half, scoring 20 of his 24 points on 7-12 shooting from the field while also hitting all four attempts from the free throw line, and tallying four assists. Redshirt freshman John-Michael Hughes recorded three assists in the first half of play, seeing action for the first time in his collegiate career after redshirting last year due to injury. Sharing the ball was a theme of the first half, as the Panthers finished the half with 12 assists as a team. Freshman Bryant Randleman broke his career-high in scoring in the first half, scoring eight points in the first stanza and finishing with 11 in the game. Randleman also grabbed seven rebounds in the contest. Greensboro College would not go away, though, and High Point carried a 50-42 lead into the break.

A steal and layup from Jamal Wright extended the High Point lead to 14 at 58-44, after the Panthers scored eight of the first ten points in the second half. The Panthers finished the evening with 12 steals as a team, the most they have recorded in a game this season. HPU capitalized on these takeaways, finishing the night with 24 fastbreak points.

A jump shot from Denny Slay II stretched the High Point lead to 20 at the under-12 media timeout. Freshman Eric Coleman Jr. scored seven of his 10 points in the second half and has now scored double digits in two straight contests.

The Pride from Greensboro College refused to back down, cutting the High Point down to seven with just under four minutes remaining in the contest. A steal followed by an and-one layup from freshman John-Michael Wright extended the lead back to 10. Wright had another double-digit scoring night, his fifth of the season, scoring 16 in the contest. HPU closed the game on a 11-3 run to secure the 17-point victory.

High Point hits the road on Monday (Dec. 2) when it travels to Jacksonville, Fla. to take on North Florida. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m

Courtesy of Timothy Garske, High Point University Sports Information