HIGH POINT, N.C. – The quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon didn’t exactly start on a strong note for High Point, the top seed and Big South Conference tournament host. Following a timeout, though, the Panthers found their footing.
And after a sluggish start, one Panther announced his presence with authority as High Point pulled away for a 77-63 victory over Radford.
Radford jumped out to an early 18-4 lead in the first six minutes on the strength of 15 combined points from forward Justin Archer and guard DaQuan Smith. Kenyon Giles also knocked down a three-pointer during that run.
Following the under-16 media timeout, a Juslin Bodo Bodo dunk and Kezza Giffa layup energized the crowd and brought the Panthers within a 10-point margin of the Highlanders. Later, four points from Duke Miles and another Giffa shot cut the deficit down to one, 24-23, at the 6:33 mark.
“Clearly, we weren’t quite ready to go at the start,” High Point head coach Alan Huss pointed out. “A lot of the credit goes to Radford – they were really charged up. We knew that if we could weather that initial storm, then our advantage would kick in with the additional rest. We settled in offensively and cleaned up the glass a little bit. Once we corrected some of that, we really played much better.”
On the next trip up the floor, Chandler Turner drained a triple for the Highlanders, which pushed the lead to four. However, an Abdoulaye Thiam three-point conversion put the Panthers in front for the first time, 28-27, with 4:25 left in the opening frame. To close out the half, a pair of jumpers, one apiece by Tony Walters and Kenyon Giles, helped stake the Highlanders to a 36-34 lead at the intermission.
High Point came out roaring from the locker room, as back-to-back threes by Thiam anchored an 8-0 run in the first 1:37 of the second stanza and triggered a Highlander timeout. The Panther run extended to 19-4 as Bodo Bodo threw down a pair of vicious two-handed jams, coupled with a Miles three-pointer, which created a 53-40 Panther lead at the 13:36 mark.
“The biggest thing this team has taught me is to be flexible,” Radford head coach Darris Nichols stated. “We lose three guys for the year (with injury), then you’ve got to change and adjust. Josiah Harris was out for most of the year. It didn’t (just) teach me – it challenged me to be flexible. I had an adverse situation obviously, and you want to come back and write your own story. Sometimes, it doesn’t go like that. You’ve got to keep working and keep fighting, and that’s what I challenged these guys to do.”
Radford kept digging as a Turner triple from the left wing and Bryan Antoine three-point play trimmed the deficit down to nine, 64-55, with 7:12 to play. However, Bodo Bodo provided the emphatic exclamation point for High Point a couple of minutes later with two thunderous alley-oop dunks.
Bodo Bodo finished the game with a double-double, scoring 10 points and tying a single-game tournament record with 19 rebounds.
“I don’t know if I can put it into words,” Huss admitted when asked about Bodo Bodo’s impact. “He came and joined us after the summertime. We had a guy get ill for the year and another guy get injured. We were looking for someone late and he was looking for a home. He has worked unbelievably hard.”
“He had a hard time just keeping up with practice when he got here. He was the most impactful player – in my opinion – on the floor tonight. He controlled the defensive backboards and offensive backboards. I thought his communication was elite today, especially after the first 10 minutes when we settled in.”
Miles and Thiam each posted a game-high 20 points for High Point, as the duo and Bodo Bodo all finished in double figures. Giffa also finished the game with nine points, four assists, and three rebounds.
Turner scored a team-high 19 points for Radford, while Archer notched a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 19 rebounds. Antoine posted 10 points and three boards, while Smith tallied nine points and three assists.
High Point (25-7) advances to the semifinal round on Saturday, where the Panthers will face Longwood at noon. Radford concludes the 2023-24 campaign at 16-17 overall.
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