March 9, 2024
The High Point men's basketball team falls in overtime to Longwood, 80-79, in the semifinals of the 2024 Hercules Tires Big South conference tournament despite a game-high 32 points from Kezza Giffa and 15 points from Duke Miles.
The Panthers came out with an enormous amount of energy as a pair of three-pointers from Duke Miles put HPU up early, 6-1.
After missing their next eight shots, the Panthers finally saw a bucket go in after a Kimani Hamilton steal led to him finding Juslin Bodo Bodo up ahead for a powerful two-handed jam.
Kezza Giffa and Trae Benham knocked down the team’s fifth and sixth three-pointers of the half to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game, 34-34, with 1:51 remaining in the first half.
Giffa led the way in scoring for HPU with 13 points off the bench as the Panthers closed out the first half with a 36-29 lead.
HPU did not shoot the ball particularly well despite having the lead heading into halftime as the Panthers as a team shot 37 percent from the court overall and 35.3 percent from the three-point line.
A tough turnaround jumper from Miles gave him his third bucket of the game and the team’s first points of the half.
HPU grabbed its largest lead of the game 50-35, after Giffa attacked the basket for two points with 14:25 remaining in the second half.
The Panthers were forced to call a timeout with 4:56 remaining in the second half after Longwood’s Michael Christmas knocked down a three-pointer to bring HPU’s lead down to five points, 59-54.
HPU and Longwood traded back-and-forth baskets the entire way down the stretch as Miles and Giffa made some big plays as the second half came to a close, but it was Longwood that went on an 11-4 scoring run in the last 3:46 minutes of play.
The Panthers trailed by two points before Bodo tied the game up at 69 with a layup. That bucket helped HPU send the game to an extra period tied up at 69.
After coming up big the entire game, Giffa added to that by knocking down a much-needed, side-step, three pointer to give HPU the lead back, 76-75, with 1:57 remaining in the overtime period.
A HPU turnover forced the Panthers to foul Longwood and send them to the line where they made both of their free-throw attempts to advance Longwood’s lead to three points, 80-77, with nine seconds remaining in the game.
A Kimani Hamilton second-chance opportunity basket with 0.2 seconds left brought HPU’s lead to within a single-point, 80-79. However, that would turn out to not be enough for the Panthers as Longwood sealed the the victory, 80-79, to send them to the 2024 Hercules Tires Big South tournament championship game tomorrow at 12 p.m. versus the winner of the No. 2 UNC Asheville/ No. 3 Gardner Webb game.
“Credit to Longwood. They were the most connected, more physical, tougher basketball team today. It was an extremely physical game… Right from the jump they got a foul on Bodo which really changed the complexion of the game. I thought they were really aggressive, they threw the ball inside… In particular that stretch we got up 15 points and we relaxed a little bit. I think that is the fifth time now this season where we have had a 15 point lead in the second half and let a team come back,” said head coach Alan Huss. “I do not want to take anything away from Longwood, they came in here in a really hostile environment. Our fans did their part, everybody but coach Huss did their part… They got us in a ton of foul trouble and we did not execute with some different lineups on the floor at the end of the game so credit to Longwood,” said head coach Alan Huss.
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“Everybody makes mistakes and that is a team thing at the end of the day. We are a team. We all lost so we are all together in this,” said Giffa.
Giffa finished with a game-high 32 points after shooting 8-16 from the court overall and a perfect 14-14 from the free-throw line.
“I am pleased for him [Giffa] that he has had the personal success that he has had just because it is hard to find a guy that is talented number one, that will even talk about coming off the bench and embrace it… he plays with joy, he plays with thankfulness, he plays with passion all the time. He never let the bench, or the minutes role or the different roles bother him. He just came out and played every night so I am proud of him,” said Huss.
Miles added 15 points and Hamilton had a game-high 10 rebounds.
For Longwood, Szymon Zapala led the team in points with 17 to go along with six rebounds. Walyn Napper added 14 points, seven assists and four rebounds as well for Longwood.
For High Point, they finished out an incredible season by finishing with an overall record of 25-8 and a 13-3 record in Big South conference play.
“I am really disappointed for my guys because it is really difficult to put together special seasons like this… It is really difficult to find these groups and to keep these groups together. It is just the magic that gets created to get you to these points. It is hard to recreate year in and year out. I hope that this group stays together and we have opportunities in the future to redeem ourselves,” said Huss.