[B]HPU Panthers lose to Charlotte
[I]BY TOM BERRY, ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER[/I][/B]
CHARLOTTE – High Point had Charlotte just where it wanted on Friday night.
Then a couple of turnovers came at the wrong time.
Two late miscues slowed the Panthers’ rally from a 12-point deficit, helping the 49ers survive for a 61-55 victory in the college basketball opener for both teams at Halton Arena.
“This was a hard-fought game against a very good basketball team,” said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz.
The start of High Point’s 81st season almost became a memorable victory, but the Panthers head west to play Utah on Tuesday in an NIT Season Tip-Off game wondering what might have been.
“This is very tough,” said senior forward Arizona Reid, who led all players with 26 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. “I had no thought of coming down here and losing. I was 100 percent (sure) we were going to win.”
Charlotte won despite missing 19 free throws and having leading returning scorer Leemire Goldwire go scoreless in the first half. But the senior guard scored 16 points in the second half and made one of the biggest steals of the game with just over a minute remaining.
High Point, which led by nine points early in the first half and by one early in the second, twice fell behind by 12 points. The Panthers rallied within two points, then Reid missed a contested shot from the left side of the lane with 1:56 remaining. A rebound tip by freshman David Campbell also missed.
HPU trailed 53-50 with 1:20 remaining when Campbell was forced to bring the ball up by himself.
Campbell, who had seven points and nine rebounds, was stripped at midcourt by Goldwire, who drove for a layup. Thirty seconds later, Charlotte still led 57-50 when an entry pass by High Point’s Mike Jefferson was knocked away and turned into a dunk by An’Juan Wilderness.
Said High Point coach Bart Lundy: “Those two plays really decided the game in the last minute.”
Freshman Earnest Bridges’ rebound basket and Eugene Harris’ 3-pointer closed the Panthers within 58-55. But Goldwire made one free throw with 14 seconds left and Jefferson’s shot in the lane was blocked with eight seconds remaining.
High Point shot 37.5 percent against the taller 49ers and starting center Cruz Daniels fouled out while playing just seven minutes with zero points.
“(Daniels’ foul trouble) was the worst case scenario for us,” Lundy said.
The 49ers shot only slightly better than High Point, but had the rebounding edge and forced 21 turnovers.