HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University men's basketball team clinched the Big South conference regular season championship after battling out an overtime thriller, 100-96, against Winthrop. Abdoulaye Thiam led the way in scoring for the Panthers with 25 points on Wednesday night.
In Head Coach Alan Huss' first season coaching the Panthers, he has guided the team to a Big South conference regular season title for the first time since the 2015-16 season after being predicted seventh in the preseason poll. Starting from scratch and forming a whole new team this past summer, High Point now holds an overall record of 24-6 which is the most wins ever in HPU men's basketball history and the most wins by a first year head coach.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 100, Winthrop 96
Records: High Point (24-6, 13-2), Winthrop (17-13, 8-7)
Head Coach Alan Huss: "We obviously are very fortunate to get out with a win tonight. Our three-point shooting early in the game, especially in the first half, really covered up a lot of mistakes. We turned the basketball over entirely too much tonight and especially in some critical moments against pressure late. We made some really uncharacteristic plays for us as far as ball security went... I am just really proud of our guys. Proud of their effort all year and proud of them tonight."
With the win, High Point clinched the Big South conference regular season championship for the first time since the 2015-16 season under Head Coach Scott Cherry.
"The last four years for me have been so many highs and lows so to end on a note like that just shows that if you keep doing the right thing, keeping putting your head down and working every day then things work out in the end," said Childress.
The Panthers shot an impressive 32-26 from the free-throw line including going 10-11 from the line in the overtime period. HPU also shot an excellent 14-29 from the three-point line.
Thiam led the way with 25 points on 5-12 shooting from the three-point line. Hamilton added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Despite only playing 1:35 of game time in the first half due to two early foul calls, Miles finished with 14 points in the second half and 17 overall to go along with five assists and three rebounds.
Up Next: High Point will hit the road to Farmville, Virginia to take on Longwood University on Saturday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m. for the teams final game of the regular season. The Big South Tournament seeding will be announced Saturday night following all league play.