HIGH POINT, N.C. – Gardner-Webb's late comeback attempt fell just short Sunday afternoon in a 66-65 Big South Conference men's basketball loss at High Point.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (12-17, 7-9 Big South) dropped their fourth in a row, but had a chance with a wild final minute.

Down 66-63 with 90 seconds left, Gardner-Webb needed its defense to come up with a stop and got it when Jahaad Proctor missed and David Efianayi secured a rebound with 51 seconds on the clock. Jaheam Cornwall took the ball and went to work, slicing into the High Point defense for a driving layup in traffic with 38.5 seconds to play – trimming the Panthers' lead to 66-65.

High Point (13-14, 8-8 Big South) had a chance to put the game away, but turned the basketball over with 10 seconds left – courtesy of a DJ Laster steal. Laster whipped the ball to Efianayi, who then got the ball to Cornwall for an elbow jumper – which missed the mark just before the horn.

Gardner-Webb led by as many as seven points early in the first half, but saw High Point rally to go in front 35-33 at intermission. The Panthers led by as many as nine in the second half, before Gardner-Webb went on a 13-4 run to tie things up once again.

High Point responded to that rally with an 8-0 run – but Gardner-Webb slowly worked itself back close before falling short in the closing seconds.

Gardner-Webb shot 45.3 percent for the game, but cooled to 39.3 percent in the second half after shooting above 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes for the second game in a row (52.0 percent).

GWU was 5-of-7 from deep in the first half, but missed all six of its second-half attempts. The 'Dogs did overcome a poor first half at the free throw line, shooting 10-of-11 in the final 20 minutes.

Laster led Gardner-Webb with 17 points, Liam O'Reilly added 16 and Cornwall scored 10 in his first career start. The team's leading scorer on the season, Efianayi, had a tough night shooting, going just 1-for-8 from the floor for three points.

Turnovers were a heavy burden for Gardner-Webb on Sunday, as 15 miscues led to a 15-6 for High Point in scoring off of turnovers. The Panthers also turned 11 offensive rebounds into 17 points and a +12 scoring edge.

Forward Jordan Whitehead led High Point with 12 points and five boards, while the big three of Andre Fox, Brandon Kamga and Proctor each scored nine.

High Point finished just 43.4 percent from the floor, but shot 50.0 percent in the second half and rebounded 36.7 percent of its missed shots.

Gardner-Webb will have another tough road test next week, traveling to Clinton, S.C., on Thursday night for a game at Presbyterian. Opening tip is set for 7:00 pm (Big South Network).