The ride is over
High Point University lost to Winthrop University in the Advance Auto Parts Big South Semifinals 61-53. Winthrop advanced to the finals in which they prevailed against UNC Asheville.
“I was proud of our guys they didn’t lay down and we kept battling,” Panther head coach Bart Lundy said.
Arizona Reid led High Point with 21 points and nine rebounds. Gene Harris scored 21 points on seven three pointers. Michael Jenkins had 14 points for Winthrop.
The game started off well for the Panthers who scored the first five points of the game. After the first three minutes of the game, Winthrop gained the lead and never relinquished it.
The first half was all Winthrop when they on a 12-0 run over a three-minute span. The Eagles advanced their lead to as many as 18 before the break. Winthrop had a 33-18 advantaged heading to the locker room.
The Panthers shot only 31 percent from the floor in the first half. Reid or Harris scored all of the points. Senior guard Mike Jefferson only attempted one rushed three in the first half but had four assists.
The second half Winthrop kept a 10 plus point advantaged for over the first 11 minutes. The lead came as close to seven points in the final minute.
Winthrop won their 11th straight Big South tournament game setting a conference record. They also won their fourth straight championship on March 8.
Reid shot 8-27 from the floor and 0-7 from behind the arc. Reid said, “I had some good looks, I just didn’t make them. I had some open threes that rimed out. I guess today just wasn’t my day.”
“These two guys here with me [Reid and Jefferson], the sad part of it is they leave accomplishing some fantastic individual accomplishments. We are going to miss them. It is hard for me to express what they have meant to this program and how much I personally going to miss these guys. They not only are good basketball players, but great people.” Lundy said regarding his two senior leaders.
Reid’s final thoughts about looking back on his stellar two-time MVP career, “I had a lot of fun here at High Point. I had a good career. I still didn’t get the thing I came here to get.”
Reid did many things at High Point. He is the all time leader in steals, minutes played, game started and games played. He is second in points and third in rebounds. He is the Big South’s all time leader in rebounds and the only 2,000 point, 1,000 rebound man. He is the 97th player in NCAA history to achieve such a feat.
Jefferson’s final thoughts, “The coach at High Point gave me a chance being I was the last JUNCO player they took. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to play here and play with the best player I have ever played with in Arizona Reid. It was a dream and it came and went.”
Jefferson left with HPU’s all time assist record, three pointers made, third in minutes played, third in games started and a member of the 1,000 point club. He was in the nation’s top in assists per game this year and set a High Point single season record in assists.
The season is over but the team has bright spots looking ahead for next year. Jourdan Morris will be eligible after sitting out a year due to NCAA regulations over transferring. He played last year for St. Bonaventure scoring 13 points against Syracuse. <!–[if supportFields]> CONTACT _Con-3F61691828 <![endif]–>Alquan Mendenhall<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–> will be a redshirt freshman next year. He scored 24 points a game as a junior. He scored 40 points in an area tournament game. Also coming in are two 70 rating guards on ESPN.com.
High Point trails at the half
High Point trails 33-18 to Winthrop at half in the Advance Auto Parts Big South semifinals.
The Panthers hit a bit of bad luck shooting making a dismal 31 percent of their shots. Winthrop has made 56 percent of their attempts.
The biggest problem is behind the arc for the Panthers. They have made three of 13 attempts, all of which hit by sophomore guard Gene Harris.
Along with Harris’ nine points, conference MVP Arizona Reid has nine points as well. Pacing second seeded Winthrop is Michael Jenkins with nine. Andy Buechert has chipped in nine.
Other notable stats include Mike Jefferson with four assists. Chris Gaynor has three helpers for the Eagles.
Full game recap after the conclusion of the game.
High Point falls to Winthrop
High Point University fell to Winthrop University Saturday 62-54 in the Winthrop Coliseum.
High Point (13-10, 5-4) could not muster a second half worthy of victory for the second straight year. Winthrop (15-9, 6-3) now controls second place.
The teams went into the game tied for second in the Big South. HPU used a victory of Liberty to tie Winthrop after WU lost to Coastal Carolina. Mike Jefferson paced the Panthers with 19 points while Arizona Reid finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a team best four assists.
Jefferson scored 18 points in the first half as the Panthers went into the break up 34-31. Jefferson made three from deep. The Panthers never led by more than four points the whole first half.
The second half was a different story. For the second straight year HPU gave up a half time lead in the Winthrop Coliseum. The Panthers scored 20 points in the second half compared to the Eagles 31.
Head coach Bart Lundy told highpointpanthers.com, “”This was a disappointing loss today. We have steadily improved over the last several games and I thought today we took a bit of a step back. We needed to be tougher and play through some of our individual struggles. I thought we had problems finding any kind of flow in the second half.”
High Point welcomes Big South leading UNC Asheville Wednesday night. Game time is set for 7 pm in the Millis Center.
High Point takes down VMI
High Point University (12-9, 4-3) ran past Reggie William-less Virginia Military Institute (10-10, 2-4) 90-71 Saturday night.
HPU had four players in double figures led by Arizona Reid and Mike Jefferson at 22 points apiece. Reid finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Jefferson finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Cruz Daniels finished with 16 points and four blocks and Eugene Harris had 14 points.
The game was a tale of two halves as High Point trailed by as many as eight through the first half. VMI led the whole half with no ties. Most of the half had the Keydets up four points.
Coming out of the break HPU had to overcome a seven point deficit. The first seven minutes of the second frame, the Panthers outscored the home team 21-6. In five more minutes High Point stretched the lead to 18 at 72-54 with 6:26 left.
The next four minutes, HPU’s scoring drought was VMI’s scoring monsoon. A 17-6 run made the game 78-71. The Keydets would not score within the final 2:50.
For HPU the rebounds and three pointers were crucial to victory. The Panthers out-rebounded VMI 46-25. The Keydets, normally high scoring, three point machine, went 3-21 from deep. VMI could not stop the inside game either. HPU scored 58 points from the paint and 26 fast break points. High Point also know it is better to give as they had 26 assists compared to VMI’s 10.
With his six rebounds, Reid became the first player in Big South history to record 1,800 points and 900 rebounds. At his current pace, Reid will finished with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Reid also became the career leader in High Point history for steals with his second steal of the game. He has 142 career steals now.
HPU begins the second half of Big South play Wednesday against Liberty University in the Millis Center. Game time is scheduled start at 7 pm. Last time the teams met, LU won by four.
Panthers fall short vs Liberty
High Point late game heroics came up short against home standing Liberty University. The Panthers shot another dismal 38 percent from the floor in the 55-51 loss.
Leading High Point (10-9, 2-3) was Arizona Reid with 25 points and eight rebounds. The other Panther in double digits was Mike Jefferson with 13 points and a season best eight rebounds. Liberty (11-9, 3-1) had three players in double figures leading was Alex McLean with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
HPU did not start off well opening the game with a season worst five minute scoring drought. Over that time, Liberty opened up a nine point lead. High Point went down 10 before going on a 13-3 run to end the first half.
Score knotted at half time with LU shooting 40 percent from the floor and HPU shooting 37 percent. Shooting was not the talk of the night.
The Flames built an eight-point lead before the Panthers went on a eight point scoring run to knot it again at 44. After a trade of three pointers brought the score to 47, Reid hit a lay-up to give the Panthers the lead.
High Point was back in a deficit after the flames grabbed a 51-49 lead. Reid provided late game excitement hitting two free throws to even the score.
After a missed shot, the push for a rebound lead to a High Point foul with Liberty making two free throws. The final play of the game was a lay-up to seal the deal for LU.
The Panthers had one bright spot on the day shooting a perfect 10 for 10 from the line. The Flames shot a respectable 69 percent. Both teams were the top two teams in free throws in the Big South Conference.
The Panthers return to action Monday night as they play Radford University at the Dedmon Center. Game time is set for 7 pm.
Men’s Basketball beats Charleston Southern
High Point University got back to winning behind a pair of record setting performances from seniors Mike Jefferson and Arizona Reid.
High Point (9-8, 2-2) knocked off visiting Charleston Southern (7-12, 1-3) Monday night 73-47 at the Millis Center. Reid scored 24 points and pulled down a season best 16 rebounds. The double-double was his 13th of the season and 39 of his career. Jefferson tallied his fourth double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 assists.
Reid’s 11 rebound put him second all time in Big South history. He is short of the top spot by 89 rebounds. Reid’s rebound total is currently 865. Jefferson made history minutes later becoming High Point’s all time career assist leader beating HPU standout and friend Landon Quick. Jefferson is at 378 assists just shy of being the first Panther to amass 400 assists.
The Panthers found their offensive stroke that had been lacking the past two games. The team shot 50.8 percent from the floor and went 9 for 10 from the line.
High Point only trailed only once within the first minute of the game. Once the Panthers gained the lead they never looked back. They were up 10 once but two late free throws for the Buccaneers cut the lead to 35-27 at the break.
Following the break HPU used a 15-2 run including 10 from Reid. The final ten minutes the Panthers never let the lead get less than 20 points.
HPU finally found the shooting touch and look to polish their game even more Thursday night against Longwood University. Game time set for 7 pm in the Millis Center.