[QUOTE=run49er;359919]Should come out of that no worse than 7-1, though no reason GW can’t beat BU to make it a clean sweep.[/QUOTE]
run, make that 8-1, I mistakenly deleted the HPU-Duquesne game when I separated conference and non-conference games.
High Point’s preview of tonight…
[QUOTE]Jourdan Morris, a 6-foot-7 sophomore transfer from St. Bonaventure, remains out until December with a broken bone in his lower leg.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]That will leave the Panthers without two of their best inside players for an extended period, and High Point already was plenty young with seven scholarship freshmen and four sophomores on the roster.
Join the club. Duquesne is tied with Saint Louis for the national lead with eight scholarship freshmen.
Of the 31 scholarship and non-scholarship players on both rosters for tonight’s game, 25 are underclassmen and 17 are freshmen.
“It’s almost going to be like a high school all-star game,” Lundy said. “It could get ugly.”[/QUOTE]
[B]HPU men carry questions into tonight’s opener
[I]By Tom Berry, Sports Writer, High Point Enterprise
November 14,2008[/I][/B]
After directing his team in closed scrimmages against The Citadel and Campbell, High Point men’s coach Bart Lundy hoped to be plenty informed.
“We didn’t find out as much as we needed,” he said.
With five injured players missing against The Citadel and two remaining on the bench against Campbell, the Panthers face plenty of question marks entering tonight’s 8:30 season-opener (790 AM) against Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pa. Duquesne’s women play Morehead State at 6 p.m. in the Palumbo Center.
“We’ve had a lot of injured ankles and knees and stuff that kept us from putting the whole team out during the scrimmages,” Lundy said. “I’ve seen some progress, but we’ll probably be a fairly slow-learning team for awhile.”
Jourdan Morris, a 6-foot-7 sophomore transfer from St. Bonaventure, remains out until December with a broken bone in his lower leg. Others missing the first scrimmage were freshman point guard David Singleton (ankle), freshman forward Corey Law (knee), freshman center Rob Huntington (ankle) and sophomore forward Earnest Bridges (ankle). All but Law and Morris were back for Campbell.
Law will miss tonight’s game and probably against Atlanta Christian on Thursday and N.C. State next Saturday. That will leave the Panthers without two of their best inside players for an extended period, and High Point already was plenty young with seven scholarship freshmen and four sophomores on the roster.
Join the club. Duquesne is tied with Saint Louis for the national lead with eight scholarship freshmen.
Of the 31 scholarship and non-scholarship players on both rosters for tonight’s game, 25 are underclassmen and 17 are freshmen.
“It’s almost going to be like a high school all-star game,” Lundy said. “It could get ugly.”
Both teams have some experience, with Duquesne coach Ron Everhart returning two starters from a 17-13 team. The Dukes were picked to finish 12th in the 14-team Atlantic-10 Conference.
High Point, with three starters back from a 17-14 team, were predicted to finish fifth in the 10-team Big South Conference.
Lundy believes his team will finish much higher, but youth and injuries will impede development. He expects to start a lineup tonight of Singleton, junior guard Eugene Harris, sophomore wing David Campbell, junior center Cruz Daniels and freshman forward Steadman Short.
Singleton is not at full speed, but his size, skill and defensive ability are too good to keep him on the bench, according to Lundy.
Harris, a Pittsburgh native, grew up about 10 minutes from Duquesne.
He’s the leading returning scorer (12.5 ppg) from last season, when Arizona Reid and Mike Jefferson dominated many of the statistics.
“Gene is excited about playing in front of his family, and he knows a lot of the Duquesne players and coaches,” Lundy said.
Daniels and Campbell started at least 16 games last season, with Daniels providing shot blocking and improved consistency and Campbell coming through with versatility and leadership.
The 6-9 Short, High Point’s most highly recruited freshman, has not disappointed.
“Steadman has been fantastic,” Lundy said. “He has showed quite a bit in the scrimmages and practices even though he has missed some time with the flu.”
Huntington, freshman guard Nick Barbour, freshman guard Jacob Iati, senior swingman Melvin Crowder and Bridges are expected to see action, with others in the mix for possible playing time.
“We’re still in a feeling-out process,” Lundy said.