Box Score HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point seniors John Brown and Devante Wallace scored 23 points apiece as the Panthers led wire-to-wire and pulled away late to beat Charleston Southern, 72-61, at the Millis Center on Monday night.
CSU (7-7, 1-2 Big South) trailed by single digits for much of the game before High Point (11-4, 2-1 Big South) went on a pivotal 10-0 run to take a 71-54 lead with 2:57 remaining. The Panthers shot 50 percent in the first half, 46 percent overall and converted 8-of-19 attempts from three-point range.
Saah Nimley led Charleston Southern with 18 points and came up just shy of his third straight 20+ point scoring effort. Fellow seniors Will Saunders and Arlon Harper chipped in 13 and ten points for the Bucs, while Aaron Wheeler added ten as well. CSU shot only 38.5 percent in the second half and finished 9-of-26 from beyond the arc.
Wallace added 11 rebounds for a double-double to lead the Panthers. CSU entered the matchup 2nd in the Big South and 48th nationally in rebounding margin, but was out-rebounded, 38-25. High Point enjoyed a 24-5 edge in second chance points. The Panthers led 40-32 at halftime behind 16 points from Wallace. He hit 4-of-5 from downtown prior to intermission, and finished 5-for-9.
Brown scored on a layup to open the second half and push High Point in front by double digits for the first time. CSU answered with threes from Harper and Nimley, as each found the other off dribble penetration to close the gap to four. High Point would increase its lead back to ten on three separate occasions, before Saunders buried a triple to make it a 53-46 game at the 11:46 mark.
Wallace then scored five straight points for the Panthers, and Adam Weary hit a free throw to push HPU's cushion to 59-46 with 9:50 remaining. Aaron Wheeler contributed half his points over the next few minutes, converting a three-point play in the lane to bring CSU within 61-54 with 7:49 left. CSU did not score for the ensuing 5:10 of game time, though, as four different HPU players scored to put the game away for the Panthers.
The last two Big South regular season champions traded baskets for much of the first half, with neither side leading by more than five until the 6:12 mark. Nimley scored 13 of his points in the opening stanza, and hit Cedrick Bowen for a dunk to make the score 19-18 with 9:30 remaining. Freshman Danny Upchurch knocked down a three to not the tally at 21-21 just 40 seconds later, but HPU countered with seven straight points and led for good.
A triple by Saunders and a Nimley drive to the bucket whittled the CSU deficit to 30-29, but Wallace drilled back-to-back threes, Lorenzo Cugini had a layup and Brown hit two free throws to account for High Point's halftime lead.
CSU wraps up a stretch of four games in eight days on Saturday against Longwood. Tipoff at the Buc Dome is slated for 5:30 p.m.
