Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Thomas University men's basketball team dropped their exhibition contest against High Point University 85-48 tonight on the road.
 
From the tip, Javoris Cooks gave the Night Hawks their only lead of the contest on a three-pointer from the right side of the arch. From there, the Night Hawks pressured the Panthers with a full-court defense that the Purple and White evaded on several occasions.  The Panthers stretched their lead to 12-7 before the Night Hawks answered with two consecutive layups to bring them within one with 12:55 remaining in the first half.  High Point then pulled away to a 15 point, 37-22 lead with just over two minutes remaining until intermission. After a timeout by Night Hawks' head coach Stephen Cox, the squad went on a 7-2 run to end the first half down 39-29.
 
After the intermission, the Panthers gradually pressured the game's tempo increasing their lead to 25 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation.  While the Night Hawks tried to maintain a fighting chance in the contest, the squad's effort came up short when the final buzzer sounded.  The Panthers sent the Night Hawks back to Thomasville with the 85-48 loss.

Cox commented on today's performance, "We have to able to put two halves together.  Today was a great experience for our guys.  We'll use this game as preparation for the Sun Conference schedule starting in January."
 
Senior Alan Love led all Night Hawks in scoring en route to recording a double-double.  Love netted 15 points while bringing down 17 rebounds (14 defensive, three offensive).  Sophomore Adonai Rogers added nine points and a steal while Cooks scored eight points and brought down three boards and recorded one assist.
 
The Night Hawks return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3 when they travel to Kennesaw, Ga., to face off with NCAA Division I foe Kennesaw State University. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.  The game will be broadcast on ESPN 3.  It can be accessed by clicking here.
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com.  Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMBKB.