BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb cruised to an 86-58 win over High Point on Saturday afternoon in Paul Porter Arena, sweeping the season series against the Panthers. Nicholas set a career-high with 27 points in the triumph for GWU as this game marked the beginning of the latter half of conference play. The victory marks the Runnin' Bulldogs' third-in-a-row and puts them at 6-4 within league play.
Gardner-Webb never trailed during the game, scoring the first bucket of the game. After HPU knocked down a pair of early triples to cut their deficit to 11-10, GWU went on a 20-6 run to break open the game. HPU was never able to get back within single digits for the rest of the game.
The 'Dogs tallied eight of the final nine points of the half to push their lead to 46-26 heading into the break. This was the largest margin of the game during the first half.
Starting the second half,
DQ Nicholas went on a tear as he scored the first 12 points for GWU of the period. Nicholas went a perfect 4-4 from deep in the first four minutes with his last attempt swelling their lead to 25 with 16 minutes to play.
High Point continued to try to cut into the lead but was kept at bay. GWU went on to score the final 11 of the afternoon in the final four minutes to have the final score be 86-58.
Nicholas led all scorers with 27 en route to his historic performance, going 10-12 from the floor and 5-6 from deep. He also led the team in assists with six, pulled down six rebounds, and a career-high six steals.
Anthony Selden and
Caleb Robinson each added 15 points during the day. Selden went 7-8 during the day and converted on his lone attempt from deep.
Gardner-Webb dished 17 assists during the performance and had Nicholas lead them with six.
Lucas Stieber added four with
Julien Soumaoro having three.
The Runnin' Bulldogs gained a clear advantage in holding onto the ball as the Panthers had 20 turnovers to GWU's seven creating a 24-10 edge in points of turnovers. GWU finished the afternoon flexing their physicality as they finished with a 52-20 edge on points in the paint and 32-27 edge in rebounding.
Each team shot well during the action with both converting half of their shots. GWU went 35-64 (54.7%) and HPU was 22-44 (50%). Both converted seven shots from behind the arc as they put up 20 attempts from that range.
Gardner-Webb will be back in action on Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 p.m. facing Charleston Southern (3-6). GWU defeated CSU 83-63 in their league openers earlier this season in Boiling Springs on Thursday, December 29.
