Kamga’s Last Second Shot Give High Point 55-53 Win at Valpraiso

December 4, 2018

Men’s Basketball: @HPUMBB

Courtesy HPU Athletics

• High Point took down Valparaiso, 55-53, on a last-second shot by junior Brandonn Kamga

• Junior Jahaad Proctor led all scorers with 19 points

• HPU held Valpo to 32.7 percent shooting (18-55)

VALPARAISO, Ind.—The High Point University men’s basketball team defeated Valparaiso, 55-53, on a last-second game-winning shot by junior Brandonn Kamga Tuesday night (Dec. 4) at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Ind.

After Valpo (5-4) tied the game at 53 on a three by Ryan Fazekas with 19 seconds, the Panthers (4-5) looked to Kamga, who’s first shot was blocked out of bounds with 4.8 seconds left. After inbounding the ball to senior Jordan Whitehead, Kamga retrieved a handoff from Whitehead and banked a tough shot in with 0.8 remaining to give the Panthers the win.

“We tried to go to him (Brandonn) on the side out-of-bounds play and they hammered pretty good and the ball went out of bounds to us, so we moved the ball to him again and he did a great job of aggressively taking it to the basket and got the bank to go in,” HPU head coach Tubby Smith said. “I was really proud of our defensive effort all the way around and I thought our guys showed a lot of character and toughness.”

The Panthers shot 42.9 percent from the field (24-56), while holding the Crusaders to 32.7 percent (18-55). Junior Jahaad Proctor led all scorers with 19 points, including 15 in the second half, while Kamga added 16 points.

Valpo led 38-30, but the Panthers went on a 12-2 run to take a 42-40 lead with 7:51 remaining. The Crusaders were leading 46-44 with 5:09 left when Proctor scored the next nine points over the next 2:32 to give HPU a 53-46 lead with 2:37 left. Valpo then came back to tie the game on Fazekas’ three to set up the final sequence.

In the first half, the Panthers held Valparaiso to 7-24 shooting for 29.2 percent, but Valpo held a 24-23 advantage at the break because of free throw shooting. The Crusaders were 9-12 from the charity stripe, while HPU did not attempt a free throw in the first half.

Derrik Smits led Valpo with 14 points, but 13 of them came in the first half.

Up next, the Panthers will return to action after exams against Western Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 15. Tip-off at the Millis Center is set for 7 p.m.