Shay Shine scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half to lead High Point over Liberty 66-60 in the first round of the Big South Conference tournament on Tuesday night.
The seventh-seeded Panthers (11-19), who rallied from being down by as many as nine points in the first half, will play No. 3 North Carolina-Asheville on Thursday.
Trailing 46-40 with 10:42 remaining, High Point outscored the Flames 12-0. Shine, who had 10 points during the spurt, capped it with a 3 with 6:44 left.
The Flames brought it within 61-60 with 26 seconds to play, but the Panthers got a layup from Nick Barbour and made three free throws to seal it.
Barbour finished with 11 points for High Point, which was 12-of-17 shooting in the second half.
Jesse Sanders scored 15 points for Liberty (19-13), which beat High Point 89-44 in the tournament championship on March 4, 2006.
