DAVIDSON — Hyunjung Lee scored a career-high 23 points, Kellan Grady added 20 and Sam Mennenga impressed in his Davidson debut as the Wildcats held off High Point 82-73 Wednesday night in Belk Arena.
Lee scored 17 in the second half and narrowly missed a double-double with a career-best nine assists. Mennenga, a freshman forward from New Zealand, also threatened the double-double mark with 12 points and nine boards.
Meanwhile, High Point made it interesting by shooting 53 percent from 3-point range for the game and 55 percent from the floor in the second half.
“I thought we did a lot of good things defensively, and yet they made us pay even though we did good things,” said Davidson coach Bob McKillop.
Embed from Getty ImagesDavidson led for nearly 34 minutes and put the Panthers away with a 10-0 run down the stretch. Lee started it with his fifth and final 3-pointer of the night with 3:15 to play. Then he added to it with two free throws. Carter Collins’ two free throws made it 75-67, and Luka Brajkovic’s three-point play with 43.9 seconds left made it 78-67.
John-Michael Wright scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half, including 14 straight, to lead Tubby Smith’s Panthers.
McKillop was pleased with how his team responded each time High Point posed a challenge.
“There were some pretty good things we did resilience-wise,” he said.
The Wildcats had 21 assists on 31 baskets, and McKillop was pleased with the five-assist, zero-turnover performance of starting point guard Collins, who scored 15.
Davidson forward Luka Brajkovic had seven points and seven rebounds to go with three blocks.
Up Next
Davidson enters the three-day Maui Invitational Monday at 12 p.m. with a matchup against Texas. The eight-team tournament has been relocated to Asheville.
