The Highland Community College men’s basketball team mounted a furious rally late in the second half but came up short with a 101-95 loss at Neosho County on Saturday night. 

The Scotties, 15-13 overall and 8-8 in Jayhawk East action, did not play well early and found themselves behind at halftime by the count of 44-36. In the second half, Highland just couldn’t keep pace with the Panthers as they built a 22 point lead with 6:36 to play in the game. Finally finding some urgency, the Scotties rallied to within two points with eight seconds to play, but the Panthers were solid at the free throw line and took the win. 

“We came out flat and did not execute our defensive game plan at all,” said head coach Jerre Cole. “They killed us on the boards and we further helped them out by not being organized on the offensive end. We continue to talk about being more system-oriented at this time of the year, but as of now, it is just talk.” 

Sophomore De’Andre Upchurch (Flint, MI) led all scorers with 29 points. Sophomore Roderick Camphor (Baltimore, MD) had 23 points, including 13 of 14 made free throws. The sophomore inside duo of Antonio Walker (Dublin, GA) and Phil Henry (Marlton, NJ) had 12 and 11 points respectively. 

The Scotties conclude their final regular season home game on Wednesday night against Allen County Community College with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.