As the clock ticked away, it was a race to the basket as Mayo relayed it to Steffe, and Steffe sent it down the court for guard Davion Sykes, who made a layup for the Salukis to take the lead against the High Point University Panthers with just 0.4 seconds to go, cementing a 86-84 win for the Dawgs.

The Salukis men’s basketball squad looked to build on a home victory as it made its way to High Point, North Carolina to take on the Panthers on Wednesday Dec. 3. Despite trailing by as many as 16 points, the Salukis were able to give High Point its first home loss in nearly a year.

Despite turning the ball over in both of their first two possessions, the Salukis only trailed 10-7 after four minutes. Guard Drew Steffe was the hot hand for SIU early, scoring five of those seven points.

High Point proceeded to turn up the heat on their home floor. After a rough start on offense, they went on to make six of their next seven shots. The Salukis couldn’t keep up, and fell behind 25-14 with 12 minutes until the half.

The Salukis were able to find their footing and went on the attack throughout the middle portion of the first half. A 6-0 burst helped SIU cut the Panther lead to 28-24.

That seemed to be as close as the Salukis could get for the moment. High Point was able to keep SIU at a distance, punching the lead back up to 11 with the score at 41-30 with 3:51 left in the first half.

Guard Rob Martin’s bucket with 55 seconds left in the half pushed his total points to 16 and made the score 46-32 Panthers. Saluki head coach Scott Nagy was forced to call a timeout to stop the bleeding.

A putback dunk for guard Jalen Haynes brought the score to 46-34 going into the half with Steffe’s 16 points seeming to be the Salukis’ saving grace.

The Salukis came out of the half on fire, outscoring High Point 9-2 in the first three minutes. That forced the Panthers to take a timeout to try and stop the Salukis’ momentum while holding onto a 48-43 lead.

The blitz continued for the visitors, and back-to-back three pointers for guard Damien Mayo Jr. with feeds from Steffe tied the game at 51 with 15 minutes left in regulation. A minute later guard Isaiah Stafford nailed a straightaway 3-pointer to give the Salukis their first lead of the contest. 

Mayo played like a man possessed in the second half, scoring 19 points in the first eight and a half minutes. A driving layup from Mayo forced a High Point timeout with 11:28 to go and SIU leading 63-58.

The Salukis continued to extend the lead, getting as far ahead as 75-66 with 7:55 to go before Nagy took a timeout to keep the Salukis on track.

From there the Panthers made a charge, coming within 2 points with four minutes remaining. They finished the 9-0 run after the final media timeout with two free throws from guard Conrad Martinez. That tied the score at 80-80 with 3:23 remaining.

From there the score went from the Salukis up two to tied multiple times. A review with 25 seconds left gave High Point the ball with the score tied at 84.

The Panthers tried to hold for the last shot but Mayo scooped the ball from Martinez, and a layup from Sykes gave the Salukis the lead 0.4 seconds to go. High Point’s last ditch full-court pass was tipped by forward Max Pikaar, and the Salukis survived 86-84.

Damien Mayo led the team with 22 points, all in the second half. He also led the Salukis with 3 steals.

“Mayo, what a player,” was all Nagy could say postgame.

Steffe added 17 points and also led the team in assists with seven. The two were joined in double figures by Haynes (10) and forward Prince Aligbe (10).

Haynes continued to impress the coaching staff with what he’s been able to accomplish as a freshman.

“We’re super proud of him. It’s not easy,” Nagy remarked. 

The now 5-4 Salukis have a week off before their last home nonconference game of the season. They welcome the Tennessee Martin Skyhawks Banterra to Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

Sports reporter Eli Hoover can be found at [email protected] or on Instagram @hoovermakesart

Advertisement