DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (3/26/24) – A turnaround jumper by Taryn Todd before time expired rimmed out on Tuesday night, ending the Arkansas State men’s basketball team’s spectacular season in the semifinals of the Ro College Basketball Invitational with an 81-80 loss to top-seeded High Point inside the Ocean Center.

The Red Wolves (20-17) rallied from as much as 14 down in the second half, cutting the margin to one with 13 seconds remaining, but were unable to upend the top-seeded Panthers (27-8). A-State ended its season one of just five Division-I programs under the guidance of a coach in his first year to go from 20-plus losses in a season to 20-plus wins the next.

Izaiyah Nelson and Todd combined to score 48 points on the night, with Nelson recording a monster 25-point, 15-rebound performance – both career highs. The Atlanta native hit 11 of his 17 field-goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers in the career outing. Todd’s 23-point effort came on 10-of-19 shooting, 3-of-7 from deep.

Freddy Hicks added 16 points and six boards while Caleb Fields scored 13 points and dished out seven assists in the final game of his illustrious career at A-State.

As a squad, A-State shot 42.9 percent from the field (30-70) and went 9-for-25 (36.0 percent) from beyond the arc while hitting 11-of-14 at the foul line (78.6 percent). Defensively, the Scarlet and Black forced 11 turnovers.

Kezza Giffa paced the Panthers with 22 points on 9-of-16, while Kimani Hamilton added 17 points. Duke Myles scored 16 off the bench, and Juslin Bodo Bodo recorded a double-double with 14 points and 16 boards. High Point shot 48.4 percent (31-64) from the floor and won the rebounding battle 41-38.

Nelson started hot, accounting for A-State’s first 12 points and making his first six field-goal attempts. After HPU built an eight-point lead, a Nelson dunk sparked a 9-0 run which moved the lead back in favor of the Red Wolves, up 24-21 with under 10 minutes left in the half. The sides jockeyed for lead position down the stretch, but the Panthers closed on a 12-4 run to lead 46-39 at intermission.

After A-State pulled back within three early in the second half, Miles led the Panthers on a 9-0 run to push their lead out to 14 with under 12 minutes remaining. The Red Wolves did not quit fighting, coming back from that deficit and cutting it to 77-71 with 2:54 to go. HPU answered with scores by Hamilton and Giffa, but A-State closed the contest with six unanswered points, including a layup by Todd that cut it to one.

After a 30-second timeout with seven ticks left, Todd attempted a turnaround jumper in the paint, but could not get the shot to fall.

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