Box Score Game Box (pdf)
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team was defeated 87-79 by High Point on Wednesday night at the Millis Center. The Panthers hit seven of their first eight shots of the game on the way to an 18 point lead six minutes into play. The Terriers would chip away and cut the advantage to four points with five minutes remaining, but could not close the gap.
Wofford is now 7-5 on the season, while High Point is 4-7 overall. Wofford was led by Kevin Giltner with 28 points, with a career-high eight three pointers. Brad Loesing added 17 points, all in the second half. Loesing and Drew Crowell tied for the team high in rebounds with six each. The Panthers were led by Nick Barbour with 26 points and Shay Shine with 16 points and five rebounds.
“We can’t outscore anybody,” said head coach Mike Young. “That is not who we are. When we are right, we are really guarding you. We are first in the league in points allowed and in field goal percentage defense. That has got to be us night in and night out. They touched us up for 87 and we are going to have a really hard time.”
The Panthers scored first and had a 7-0 lead before Aerris Smith scored for the Terriers. High Point pushed the lead to 17-4 with 15:50 on the clock, taking advantage of three three-pointers. A three by Kevin Giltner with 12:45 remaining made it a 24-9 lead for the Panthers, but High Point hit a fifth three of the half for a 27-9 advantage just thirty seconds later.
High Point continued to hit almost every shot taken as they took a 31-13 lead before Kevin Giltner hit a three pointer with 8:40 remaining in the first half to make it a 31-16 game. Another three by Giltner and a lay-up by Lee Skinner cut the lead to 31-21 with six minutes left in the half. The 10-0 run continued with a put-back by Drew Crowell to make it an eight point game. The Panthers would then score nine of the final ten points of the half for a 40-24 advantage at the half.
To open the second half, Wofford scored first and after a three by Kevin Giltner the lead was down to 43-31 just two minutes into play. At the five minute mark, the Panther advantage was 53-36 after back-to-back threes, but Wofford answered with a three by Kevin Giltner, his fifth of the game, to make it 53-39 with 14:05 on the clock.
The three pointers continued for both teams and after another three by Kevin Giltner with 11:47 on the clock the score was 59-49 in favor of the Panthers. A three by Brad Loesing cut the lead to 61-52 at the midpoint of the half. Brad Loesing hit another three with 8:13 left to make it a 66-58 game.
Brad Loesing then hit two free throws to cut the lead to 66-62 with six minutes on the clock. The Panthers would push the advantage to 74-65 with 2:29 remaining before a jumper by Lee Skinner made it a seven point game. A three by Brad Loesing with one minute left cut the lead to 79-72. The Panthers would hit eight free throws in the final 51 seconds and Kevin Giltner hit a three with seven seconds left for the 87-79 final margin.
The Terriers shot 56.9% from the floor for the evening, while High Point shot 57.7% overall. Wofford finished 12-25 from behind the arc. The Panthers went 10-16 from three. Wofford was 9-of-17 from the free throw line, while High Point went 17-of-23 from the charity stripe. Wofford held a 26-23 rebounding margin.
Drew Crowell and Brad Loesing both fouled out for Wofford. The 87 points allowed were the most this season by Wofford and the most since allowing 94 in a three overtime game at Xavier on November 27, 2010. Wofford hit twelve three point shots in the game, a season high. The Terriers also allowed ten three pointers, a season high. Kevin Giltner tied the school record with 15 three point attempts in a game, set by Seth Chadwick on January 29, 1997 at Wake Forest.
After taking a few days off for Christmas, the Terriers will face South Carolina on December 28 and Wake Forest on January 2 on the road before returning home on Thursday, January 5 against the College of Charleston. The game at South Carolina will be broadcast on CSS and ESPN3.
