HIGH POINT, N.C. – John Brown scored 30 points, Lorenzo Cugini added 16 and High Point pulled away from Morgan State in the second half to win 82-72 Saturday night at Millis Center. It marked the Bears first loss in the series to the Panthers (2-1 since 2013).
 
In a game that featured 11 lead changes and four ties in the first half, it was the early going of the second half that hurt the Bears.
 
Morgan State's (2-4) Andre Horne Jr. (10 points) buried a 3-pointer that tied the game at 47 apeice with 16:51 to go, but a layup by John Brown sparked a 18-4 run by the  Panthers. Lorenzo Cugini scored on a layup to extend the Panthers to its largest lead of the night at 67-51 with 9:13.
 
Both teams turned in strong shooting performances tonight. The Panthers shot 56 percent from the field (33-59) and was 4-of-9 from 3-point territory, while Morgan State nailed 7-of-19 from beyond the arc and shot 52 percent (28-54) from the field.
 
High Point (4-2) scored 23 points off of 16 turnovers by the Bears, and outscored MSU in the paint by 52-24 margin. 
 
Kyle Thomas led the Bears with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and grabbed five boards. Clive Vaughan Jr. scored 13 points (5-10 FG) off the bench. Phillip Carr added 11 points with eight rebounds.
 
Morgan State will attempt to bounce back when they head north to play at Wagner College on Wednesday (Dec. 2).
 
Bear Notes
Cedric Blossom played in his first game of the season. The senior started in the contest and fouled out with 8 points (3-6 FG) and two rebounds
 
Senior guard Donte Pretlow posted a game-high seven assists

High Point scored 14 fastbreak points, while the Bears scored 2