Mountain too big for Gardner-Webb as High Point stifles Bulldogs

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Gardner-Webb faced a tall order Saturday, as Big South leader High Point visited Paul Porter Arena. The home team played well in segments, but could not find the consistency to keep up with the high-powered Panthers, falling by a 90-67 final score.

“There is not too much to say about that game,” head coach Jeremy Luther said following the contest. “High Point was better than us at every position. That’s not to say we didn’t give a good effort, especially in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough. High Point is a tough team to beat and they will be a tough team to knock out for anybody in March.”

Buddy Simmons opened the game with a three, which High Point answered with an 8-0 run before Shahar Lazar hit a three and Jacob Hudson connected on a floater to tie the game at 8. High Point’s Chase Johnston hit a three from the corner to spark a 7-1 spurt for the Panthers, but Hudson  converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to 17 14 at the under-12 media stoppage.

GWU kept the deficit at three points thanks to buckets from Simmons and  Lazar, but in the blink of an eye, High Point went on a 7-0 run, with six of those points coming from Kezza Giffa. That lead expanded to 35-20 before Isaiah Richards hit a foul shot and Simmons hit a three. Gardner-Webb could not keep pace with High Point, though, as the Panthers led 48-28 at the half.

Hudson scored a bucket to open the second half and Pharrell Boyogueno hit a three, but High Point hit a triple from the corner and pushed the lead back to 56-36 on a jumper from Kimani Hamilton. Anthony Selden scored four quick points for the hosts, and by the time Lazar hit a three from the corner, the High Point lead had shrunk to 58-45 with 11:41 left in the game.

After two foul shots from High Point, Simmons and Selden scored on drives to the basket, and by the time Hudson did the same, the lead had shrunk to 11. The game changed when Trae Benham buried a three for High Point and Luther was whistled for a technical foul, as he argued for a walk on the play. As a result of the five-point possession, the lead ballooned back to 18.

Simmons hit a three later in the half, but the defense could not string together enough stops as Giffa also hit one from distance and High Point put the finishing touches on the win.

Second Half Comeback: Down by 20 at the half, Luther challenged his team to continue playing hard, and they responded.

“We were down by 30 at halftime at High Point,” Luther said. “We were only down 20 here. I told them to keep playing and they showed a lot of character. We won the first two four-minute segments. We had it down to 11 points and if we had hit a couple of foul shots, it’s in single digits, but the mountain was just too big. I love this team though. It’s a great group. We have not had the kind of year we wanted or expected, but we are a good enough basketball team to still make some noise in Johnson City.”

Streak Snapped: The loss means that for the first time in 13 seasons, GWU will not finish the regular season at .500 or better in Big South play.

“I’ll be honest with you, it’s been hard,” Luther said. “We had to replace all five starters from last year’s team. Sometimes that works out great. Sometimes it doesn’t. More often than not this year, it hasn’t. We have lost so many tight games and then other times, we look like we can beat anybody. We just have not found that consistency. The good thing is, in our league, it comes down to three days in March. That’s what we have to look forward to.”

Up Next: Gardner-Webb will host Radford on Wednesday for Senior Night, looking for a win to stay out of the play-in game in Johnson City. High Point, which locked down the top overall seed in the upcoming conference tournament, can take the regular season outright with a win vs. USC Upstate, also on Wednesday. Both games are set to tip at 7 p.m.