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Hot-Shooting High Point Tops Mountaineers 86-64

Jay Canty scored a game-high 23 points in Tuesday night’s loss to hot-shooting High Point. Photo by Tyler Buckwell and courtesy of Appalachian Sports Information

Nov. 14, 2012. High Point shot a blistering 64.5 percent in the first half en route to a 22-point halftime lead and went on to hand Appalachian State University men’s basketball its first loss of the season, 86-64, on Tuesday evening at the Holmes Center.

High Point (2-0) used a 28-6 run late in the first half to turn a slim five-point lead into a commanding 46-19 advantage. Appalachian State (1-1) scored seven of the final nine points of the opening half to cut the halftime deficit to 48-26 but HPU made six of its first seven shots after the break to stretch the lead to as large as 30.

After battling back and forth throughout the first 12 minutes of play, the Panthers were able to take their first double-digit lead of the night (23-13) with 7:40 left in the first half.

The Mountaineers would never get back on track after that as High Point led by as many as 30 points in the first five minutes of the second half and never saw the lead slip below 22 points the remainder of the night. 

Four High Point players scored in double-figures, led by John Brown, who poured in 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Brown also led all players with seven rebounds and four blocked shots. 

Jay Canty was a bright spot for the Mountaineers, scoring a game-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists, both team bests. 

Chris Burgess, making his first collegiate start, finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a 4-for-5 night from beyond the arc. Tevin Baskin also finished in double figures with 10 points while grabbing a game-high four steals. 

The Panthers shot 57.4 percent (35-of-61) on the night including 8-of-17 from deep, but struggled at the free throw as they hit just 53.3 percent (8-of-15) on their free throws. 

Appalachian State shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) on the night and struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 6-of-18 three-pointers. The Mountaineers did perform well at the free-throw line, however, as they shot 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the charity stripe.

The Apps finished with 16 turnovers to High Point’s 10 and dished out just five assists while the Panthers tallied 17.

Appalachian State returns to action on Friday when it travels to Campbell for a 7:45 p.m. tipoff from the Pope Convocation Center.

Game notes

The 22-point loss to High Point was Appalachian’s largest margin of defeat in a home loss since dropping a 102-69 decision to Davidson on Dec. 3, 2005… the Panthers’ 86 points were the most that an opponent has scored in Boone since King College scored 87 in a win over the Mountaineers on Feb. 1, 2010… Appalachian fell to 36-56 all-time against High Point… the loss on Tuesday snapped a two-game winning streak in the series for the Mountaineers.