Men’s Basketball: High Point Pulls Away from Methodist, 99-63

• The Panthers used a 17-0 run to pull away from the Monarchs in the second half.
• Junior Andre Fox tallied a career-high 25 points and matched a career-high nine rebounds.
• Sophomore Cliff Thomas Jr. and freshman Justyn Mutts each had career-best with nine and 11 points, respectively.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point University men’s basketball team pulled away from Methodist in the second half, winning 99-63 Tuesday night (Nov. 21) at the Millis Center.

In the second half, the Monarchs (2-1) closed the Panther lead to seven at 54-47, but the Panthers (2-2) went on a 17-0 run to build the lead to 71-47 and forced six Methodist turnovers in the 2:50 stretch. Freshman Denny Slay had two of his season-high four steals during the run, and had all four in the second half.

High Point dominated the paint, outscoring the Monarchs, 60-26, and had 43 points off of turnovers compared to Methodist’s 12. The Panthers forced 29 Monarch turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 38-28.

“It was good to get a win after the way we played the other night,” HPU head coach Scott Cherry said. “We just wanted to get back on the court and try and pull out a victory. I thought we played the way we wanted to in terms of effort, but we had stretches where we need to keep getting better.”

Junior Andre Fox recorded a career high for the second-consecutive game, scoring 25 points after tallying 24 against The Citadel on Saturday. Fox also matched his career high with nine rebounds.

Sophomore Jahaad Proctor added 16 points and a career-high four steals, while sophomore Brandonn Kamga had 11. Freshman Justyn Mutts, making his first career start, added a season-high 13 points, while sophomore Cliff Thomas Jr. added a career-high nine.

The sides were even throughout the first eight minutes, but after Methodist took a 17-16 lead with 11:54 remaining in the first half, the Panthers went on a 28-8 run that included seven Methodist turnovers. High Point went in to the halftime break with a 46-32 lead.

Davion Ayabarreno led the Monarchs with 16 points, while Troynell Reese added 15.

The Panthers return to action Friday (Nov. 24) when they travel to in-state foe Charlotte. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.