Enterprise Sports Writer

HIGH POINT – The biggest hurdle in High Point University’s late-season climb was cleared Thursday.

“ ‘Why not tonight? Nobody expects us to win,’ ” Scott Cherry relayed to his team prior to the Panthers’ 69-65 win over first-place Coastal Carolina. “I talked to our guys about using this to carry us forward. Now is the best time to be playing well. Now is the time to gel. I told the guys, ‘Let’s start with this one.’

“We play four out of our last six games at home,” Cherry continued. “We can really put ourselves in a great position to get a home game (in the league tournament).”

The top four teams earn home games when the Big South Tournament kicks off March 2. After the Panthers suffered losses in three of four Big South games to fall to 6-6 in league play, they needed some serious momentum to make that dream a reality.

Thursday’s win was one heck of a shot in the arm, as HPU built a big early lead, held off the conference’s most dominant team – and did it with key contributions from eight different players who saw 15 or more minutes of action.

“We’re motivated for these next five games,” said Earnest Bridges. “Send us into the conference tournament on a high so we can make some noise in the Big South.”

The Panthers may have gotten a leg up on the competition by beating Coastal, as their closing schedule includes last-place Presbyterian, No. 9 VMI and middle-of-the-pack squads Charleston Southern and Liberty. Only Winthrop, currently 9-4 in the league, is in contention for the conference championship, and the Panthers get to play the Eagles in the Millis Center this time around.

Tonight at 6 against Charleston Southern, the key will be playing with the same kind of energy that fueled Thursday’s win. The game is a sell-out, and enthusiasm will be running high on the court and off thanks to the television crew in the house.

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) serves seven states from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Local fans with cable will miss out, but both satellite providers offer the channel on regular packages: Dish Network (Ch. 432.), DirecTV (Ch. 640).

The Panthers’ win at Gardner-Webb two weeks ago also was televised, and Bridges said his dad watched the game with friends in Maryland. “It was pretty exciting. It felt pretty good,” Bridges said of the TV experience.

Still, the TV lights won’t be able to brighten the Panthers’ moods if they let the Buccaneers escape with a victory. CSU rallied for a 73-69 win in the first meeting.

Cherry gets to coach on camera in his bare feet as part of the Big South’s charitable drive for Samaritan’s Feet, a humanitarian relief organization that gives shoes to children around the world. To raise awareness and funds for the conference-wide goal of collecting 17,000 pairs of shoes, each basketball coach will go barefoot once this season.

HPU fans can support Samaritan’s Feet by bringing new athletic sneakers to a game as a donation, making a cash donation at a game, or texting the word “Panthers” to 85944 to add a $5 donation to your monthly phone bill.

shanf@hpe.com | 888-3526