CHARLOTTE — For a program that didn’t win its first NCAA Tournament game until last week, High Point’s men’s basketball team came close to an even bigger achievement over the weekend.
On Saturday night, the 12th-seeded Panthers pushed No. 4 seed Arkansas — the SEC Tournament champions — to the wire before falling 94-88 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Portland, Oregon, ending the most successful season in program history.
Trailing by just one point at halftime, the Panthers had no shortage of fight in the matchup as they never got overwhelmed by the nation’s fourth-highest scoring team, taking advantage of their own status as the fifth-highest scoring team.
Senior guard Rob Martin led High Point (31-5) with 30 points, five assists and four rebounds. Fellow senior Cam’Ron Fletcher added 25 points and eight boards for the Panthers, who entered the contest riding a 15-game winning streak.
Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 36 points and six assists for the Razorbacks (28-8), who were tied up with the Panthers with just three minutes to play but surged ahead in the closing stretch.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” High Point coach Flynn Clayman said.
“We competed with the SEC champs, lottery picks, guys who are the best of the best. Our team showed out. We packed the house, we had fun. We played with confidence. We were expected to be good, but I don’t think anybody expected us to win 31 games, get to the tournament, advance and push the SEC champs…I told our guys to come in with an aggressive mindset, shoot your shot, and if a few more of them dropped, then it would have been a different story.”
It started Thursday, when the Panthers pulled off one of the tournament’s few upsets so far.
In that game, senior guard Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season — a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining — to give High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin. He finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers; Martin added 23 points and 10 assists.
It was the first March Madness win in program history and the first time a Big South program had advanced to the Round of 32 since Winthrop in 2007. Last season, the No. 13 Panthers were defeated by No. 4-seeded Purdue in the first round.
Against Arkansas two nights later, High Point was every bit as dangerous. Johnston gave the Panthers a 42-41 lead on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the first half before Acuff drew a foul and converted both free throws to send Arkansas into the locker room up one.
Fletcher kept the Panthers within striking distance deep into the second half. The teams traded leads nine times over a seven-minute stretch before Arkansas went into the under-eight media timeout ahead 73-72.
Arkansas pulled away late, sending Arkansas coach John Calipari to his 17th Sweet 16.
For Clayman, the moment carried meaning well beyond the box score. In his first season coaching in the Big South, he finished as the winningest coach in his inaugural year in the conference and guided the Panthers to their third consecutive Big South regular-season title.
The Panthers became the first program in league history to win three in a row since Winthrop from 2004-07.
“I’m just so happy for our university, because I heard Coach Cal say yesterday about our program and his program, ‘coaches and players can win games, but administrations win championships,'” Clayman said. “Ever since I set foot on High Point University’s campus, my life has changed. I think these guys would say the same. We’re sitting here before you today and we made history. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys — what a ride.”
Johnston said the program’s culture made the journey possible.
“Coach Flynn is a great coach,” Johnston said. “If he rosters you, he trusts you, not just in the highs, but in the lows. You’re going to have an unbelievable support system around you, from morning, noon and night, from the day you start there to the day you finish, and it’ll be an experience like no other.”
Twenty-four of the Panthers’ 31 wins this season came by double digits, showcasing a dominant team loaded with experienced seniors who gave High Point an explosive presence.
While none of that ease translated well against an Arkansas squad loaded with talent, for 40 minutes on a Saturday night in Portland, a mid-major from the Carolinas made the SEC champions earn every bucket.
