Greenville, S.C. – High Point's Zach Austin converted on a pair of free throws with six seconds left and Mike Bothwell's attempt at a game-tying three-pointer fell short as the Panthers edged the Paladins 85-82 in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday evening at Timmons Arena.
 
The loss halted Furman's four-game winning streak and dropped the Paladins to 6-3, while High Point won its fifth in a row to up its record to 8-1.
 
Furman trailed by seven points at 81-74 with under 1:30 remaining before JP Pegues drained a triple. Pegues stole the ball on the next possession and buried another three from the right wing to trim the deficit to 81-80. High Point beat the Furman press, and Austin scored and drew a foul with 1:04 left but missed his free throw to keep the Paladins within one possession. 
 
Pegues responded by driving for a layup to make it eight straight points for the sophomore. After Jalen Slawson swatted Bryant Randleman's shot and grabbed the rebound on High Point's next possession, the Paladins had an opportunity to take a lead, but Mike Bothwell's driving effort was deflected by Emmanuel Izunabor and Austin was fouled after securing the rebound. The forward hit both free throws and Bothwell's last-second shot from the top of the key fell short as time expired.
 
Jaden House led the Panthers with 29 points and Abdoulaye Thiam added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting. Austin finished with 14 and Randleman tallied 12. 
 
Bothwell, who totaled 20 points in the opening half, paced the Paladins with a season-high 29 points and seven rebounds, while Garrett Hien netted 15 and Pegues contributed 12.
 
High Point, 11-of-17 on the night from three-point range, hit its first seven triples of the game to build a 42-26 lead before Furman ended the first half on a 15-3 run to cut the Panther advantage to 45-41 at intermission. The Panthers quickly pulled out to a 57-47 lead in the second half before Bothwell and Slawson combined to score 10 points on a 12-0 Paladin run to give Furman a 59-57 lead on Marcus Foster's layup with 11:13 to go. Thiam answered with a three as High Point hit seven straight shots and 9 of its next 10 to take the lead for good.
 
The Panthers shot 59.3% for the game and managed a 34-29 rebounding edge. Furman, 45.7% from the field, committed a season-low five turnovers and outscored the Panthers 46-36 in the paint but made just 9-of-32 three-point attempts.
 
Tuesday's loss marked just the second defeat for Furman in its last 32 regular season non-conference games at Timmons.
 
Furman plays the final game of its three-game homestand on Saturday, December 10, when the Paladins host Winthrop for a 4 p.m. tip-off at Timmons Arena.