HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Freshman John Brown scored 28 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had five steals in High Point's 81-73 win over UNC Greensboro on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Brown scored High Point's first six points of the game en route to 13 first half points, and was instrumental in the Panthers 14-2 run to open the second half. Brown had eight points during the run, Allan Chaney chipped in five and Adam Weary knocked down a free throw.

Weary finished with 10 points while Chaney added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Panthers tallied eight steals and forced UNC Greensboro to turn the ball over 16 times.

Trevis Simpson, who last season was the first ever UNC Greensboro player to lead the Southern Conference in scoring (18.3 ppg), led the Spartans with 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting.