HIGH POINT – A sloppy first half left High Point Central with a 32-22 halftime deficit against Southwest Guilford Wednesday. Derek Grant’s layup at the buzzer left Southwest with nothing but questions of how the Bison pulled out a 51-49 thriller in the third-place game of the Bank of North Carolina Christmas Classic.

“We needed this win,” Central coach Patrick Battle said. “We had lost three or four, so no matter how bad it was, we got the ‘W’.”

Central’s Drew Adams sank a free throw to force a tie at 47 with two minutes remaining. On the ensuing possession, Grant’s only steal of the fourth quarter led to a bucket by Sam Eberhart, giving the Bison a 49-47 lead with a minute to go.

LaKeith Scott of the Cowboys nailed a jumper to create another tie with 35 seconds to play. Grant then missed a pair of free throws to set up Southwest with 16 seconds left.

Adams picked off a Cowboy pass with five seconds to go and threw the ball to Grant for the game-winner as time expired.

The final two quarters were played at a much different pace than the first, with the Bison showing excellent resolve to get back in the game.

Grant sparked a revamped Central defense with three third-quarter steals leading to fast-break layups as the Cowboy lead shrank to eight at the end of the period. The Bison also executed much more crisply in the halfcourt while closing the gap.

“I think they played extremely aggressive in the second half,” Southwest coach Guy Shavers said. “On the offensive end, my guys became a little bit tentative. Our effort was solid all night, but we didn’t execute the offense.”