HIGH POINT, N.C. ? The Tigers ended High Point's 22-game home court winning streak against non-conference opponents and registered their second straight road victory with an impressive 71-57 win over the Panthers in the Millis Center Saturday night.
The Tigers, winning a second straight on the road for the first time since January, 2006, improved to 5-5 with the win. The Panthers dropped to 4-6, suffering just their second loss against a non-conference opponent at home in the last six years (27-2).
Tiger head coach Pat Kennedy couldn't have scripted the first half any better than the Tigers played. They broke from the gate with a small four-point lead and never trailed, leading by as many as 21, 40-19, on David Brewster's slam to end the first period. The Tigers shot 50 per cent from floor, outboarded the Panthers 19-13 and generally just outplayed High Point. All eight Tigers who played in the first half contributed at least three points and a rebound.
The first half was a cruise for the Tigers. The second half was a bit bumpier.
High Point thought the best strategy to work itself out of the very deep hole was to score three-pointers and began launching treys right from the start of the second half. The Panthers buried seven of them in 20 attempts to help close the gap to eight points twice, the last time with 5:16 left to play.
“I reminded our guys at halftime that when you're on the road the home teams make big runs,” said Kennedy. “They did but we handled those runs with good poise.”
Although the Tigers cooled off a little shooting 46 per cent in the second period, they seem to have an answer for each Panther rally and it was usually in the form of Junior Hairston, the hometown kid who attended West Rowan High School about a dozen miles from the High Point campus.
Hairston scored a game high 17 points (11 in the second half) on 5-10 shooting from the field and 6-8 at the free throw line, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots to the delight of a large contingent of fans who made their way to the game to see him play.
Troy Franklin chipped in 15 points, three assists and four steals. Calvin Lee came off the bench to register 11 points. He was 4-5 from the field including 1-1 from long range and 2-2 at the charity stripe.
The Tigers will take the next week off for exams and won't return to action again until December 22nd when they travel to Bowling Green for a first-ever meeting with the Falcons.
