High Point races by Furman for Clayman's first head coaching victory

 

High Point coach Flynn Clayman secured his first win as the Panthers' head coach Monday night against Furman. (Photo:  High Point Athletics)

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – Though the High Point Panthers claimed a Big South championship and went to the NCAA Tournament last season, questions hung over the program like the banner hangs over the Qubein Center deck.

Would the plentiful new faces gel together? Would things be different with Flynn Clayman taking over for Alan Huss after Huss’ departure for Creighton?

The Panthers – for a night, anyway – left no question.

High Point logged a blazing 1.529 points per possession in a 55-point first half, then pulled away from Furman in a dominant 97-71 victory over the Paladins in the nightcap of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon.

“I’m just really proud of these guys, proud of the staff, and proud of our preparation for this moment,” Clayman said. “There’s been a lot of talk about cultures and this and that, and we have a pretty darn good culture, too.”

Furman (0-1) seized an early lead in the contest, staying ahead by a possession for most of the first three minutes of the game. High Point (1-0) quickly dispatched the early Furman advantage. After Alex Wilkins tied it at 12 with a three for Furman at the 15:31 mark, High Point quickly departed on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. The run would stretch as far as 21-5, with High Point seizing a 33-17 advantage with 8:52 to play in the first half.

Furman would not draw within single digits again.

High Point only grew its lead, compelling a staggering number of Furman turnovers and converting them into points. The Panthers seized a 20-point lead with 14:41 to play as Vincent Brady II rattled home a triple. The margin grew to 30 after a Cam Fletcher dunk with 8:49 remaining.

The Panthers held as much as a 32-point margin over the Paladins before finally taking their feet off the gas a bit.

“We obviously slowed it down in the last eight minutes, but I was happy,” Clayman said of the pace at which High Point played. “I thought the pace favored us, and I think somebody’s going to have to be really good if they want to play fast with us, because we are elite. If you want to do that, you better be a darn good team.”

High Point compiled a cornucopia of gaudy numbers, including scoring 52 of their 97 points in the paint. Clayman indicated that the Panthers were looking to play off two feet in the paint throughout the night.

“That was a focus coming in,” Clayman said. “Obviously, we have great shooters, but with their defensive scheme and their personnel, we shouldn’t be settling for that many threes. We shot 20, which was great, but we made nine, so we shot good ones.”

Forward Owen Aquino played a significant role in the Panthers’ paint prowess. The Liberty transfer scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and snatched six caroms.

“Like (Clayman) says, we don’t practice to win, we practice to dominate,” Aquino said. “That’s what I tried to do tonight. Every guy showed up tonight, and I think that we dominated tonight.”

“He’s doing great,” Clayman said of Aquino. “He’s always been known as a great passer, but we just encouraged him to know that he’s a talented scorer, as well. He plays the game the right way, so he’s always looking to get people involved. We need him to score a little bit, and he did that tonight.

Point guard Rob Martin poured in 22, hitting 10-of-18 tries from the field and dishing three dimes while collecting four steals.

“I feel I did well,” Martin said. “We’ve just been watching film and the coaches have prepared us (in) every practice. I felt it was an okay game for me.”

Martin and Aquino were two of the five Panthers to finish in double figures. Guard Conrad Martinez booked 12 and forward Terry Anderson added 11 in reserve duty. Forward Cam Fletcher tallied his first High Point double-double, scoring 11 and hauling in 10 boards. The Panthers shot 58 percent (40-for-69) from the deck and added 45 percent (9-for-20) from three. High Point struggled from the line, hitting just 8-of-15 (53.3 percent).

Forward Charles Johnston paced the Paladins with a double-double of his own, collecting 16 points and boarding 12 misses. Wilkins joined Asa Thomas and Ben Vander Wal, scoring 11 each. The Paladins shot 43.9 percent (25-for-57) from the deck and hit 26.9 percent from distance (7-for-27). Furman hit 73.7 percent from the line (14-of-19).

The win marked Clayman’s first win as a full-time head coach.

“It’s been a long offseason,” Clayman said. “Every day is just a grind – getting 11 new players and hiring a lot of new staff members. Obviously, High Point is a great place to be. It’s a place where we can turn this thing over and keep this thing going, but it’s been a lot of preparation. I try to remind these guys every day that we’ve got it good at High Point, but we can’t act like we’ve got it good, or we’ll get beat. Tonight was a good start and we’ve just got to keep our head down and stay focused.””

High Point returns home to the Qubein Center for Homecoming Saturday afternoon against Averett. Tip time is 5:00 (Eastern). Furman welcomes Troy to Timmons Arena Friday night in a game slated to tip at 7:00 (Eastern). Both games will air on ESPN+.

HIGH POINT 97, FURMAN 71

FURMAN (0-1)

Johnston 6-12 2-2 16, Vander Wal 4-6 3-4 11, Bowser 2-5 2-4 6, Wilkins 4-9 2-2 11, House 3-9 0-0 8, Thomas 3-5 3-3 11, Ritger 0-0 0-0 0, Bronson 0-0 0-0 0, O’Neal 1-2 0-2 2, Franklin 2-9 2-2 6. Totals 25-57 14-19 71.

HIGH POINT (1-0)

Aquino 6-10 5-7 17, Fletcher 5-10 1-3 11, Martin 10-18 0-1 22, Washington 3-7 0-1 6, Johnston 1-2 0-0 3, Brady 2-4 0-0 6, Anderson 6-6 0-1 12, Martinez 6-9 2-2 17, Singare 0-0 0-0 0, Hausen 1-2 0-0 3, Diallo 0-0 0-0 0, Ibukunoluwa 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-69 8-15 97.

Halftime:  High Point 55-40. 3-Point goals:  High Point 9-20 (Aquino 0-1, Fletcher 0-1, Martin 2-5, Washington 0-1, Johnston 1-2, Brady 2-3, Martinez 3-5, Hausen 1-2), Furman 7-26 (Johnston 2-7, Wilkins 1-3, House 2-8, Thomas 2-3, Franklin 0-5). Fouled out:  NA.  Rebounds:  Queens 39 (Mann 10), Winthrop 39 (Duncomb 8). Total fouls:  High Point 17, Furman 16. Technicals:  Martin (HPU).

Points off turnovers:  High Point 25, Furman 3.  Points in the paint:  High Point 52, Furman 36. Second-chance points:  High Point 12, Furman 9.  Fast-break points:  High Point 14, Furman 4.  Bench points:  High Point 38, Furman 19.