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Florida Atlantic Threes Down Campbell 99-86 In A-Sun Men's Basketball

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Pierre Tucker scored a season-high 27 points to lead Florida Atlantic to a 99-86 victory over Campbell on Wednesday night in Atlantic Sun men's basketball action at Carter Gym.

The Owls (4-2, 2-0) won their fourth-straight game by knocking down 14 three-pointers in 32 attempts (44 percent). Senior point guard Earnest Crumbley added 19 points and nine assists, while Mike Bell had 15 points and a season-best 12 rebounds.

Three freshmen led the Fighting Camels in scoring. Colin Hunt came off the bench to hit season highs with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Anthony Atkinson contributed a season-best 22 points and Diego Aguiar chipped in 12. Sophomore Corey Parker had 10 points and senior Tarick Johnson nine, plus eight rebounds for Campbell (0-7, 0-2).

Campbell shot 63 percent from the floor (20-32) in the second half, but could not overcome a 15-point half-time deficit. FAU led by as many as 18 points early in the final stanza before the Camels reeled off an 11-2 rally that cut the gap to 71-67 with 10:11 to play after Robby Dupre's follow shot.

FAU then countered with a 10-2 surge of its own. The Camels closed with within 86-80 on Hunt's 17-footer with 2:53 left, but Crumbley, a senior point guard, canned triples on FAU's next two possessions. Tucker hit for three from the right wing, then scored underneath to push the advantage to 97-83 with 52 seconds to play.

Tucker led FAU with 14 first-half points, including 11 in the first 2:21 of the game. The Owls shot 51 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and made seven treys in the span.

FAU broke to a 24-11 lead in the first 5:44 of play, but Campbell countered with a 14-3 run of its own – fueled by Hunt's eight points. Johnson's stick-back with 8:48 left in the half cut the gap to 27-25. However, the Owls closed the first half on a 9-1 run to open a 52-37 lead at the break. FAU scored half of its first-period points on the break, compared to just six for the Camels.

Hunt, a freshman from Newport News, Va., surpassed his previous season-high of nine points in the first half alone with 12. He made 12-of-14 from the floor in 26 minutes of action. Atkinson, a frosh from Wilson, N.C., made 8-of-12 shots, including a season-best 6-of-8 from 3-point range, and scored 15 in the second period.

Campbell hit season highs for points scored (86), three-point field goals (7) and field goal percentage (.522), and out-rebounded the Owls 37-35, but could not counter FAU's 52 percent shooting on the night (36-69).

Bell, a native of Raleigh and transfer from Palm Beach Community College, who spent two seasons at North Carolina, entered the game as the nation's eighth-leading scorer at 23.2 points per game, but finished eight below his average on 6-of-16 shooting. His 15-point effort marked the first time that the former Enloe High School standout has scored fewer than 22 points in six outings this year.

Tucker, a junior who teamed with Bell last year at PBCC, added 6-of-12 threes, five assists and four steals in his season-best outing. Crumbley knocked in 5-of-8 from long distance and had only two turnovers in 31 minutes.

Campbell returns to action on Saturday in a 7:00 p.m., tip-off at Big South member Coastal Carolina. [Box Score]