Thursday,
February 26, 2004
Contact: Stan Cole
Florida Atlantic Defeats Campbell
95-80; Ends CU Post-Season Hopes
BOCA RATON, FLA.
Earnest Crumbley scored a career-high 39 points, hitting 11
threes, to lead Florida Atlantic to a 95-80 win over Campbell in
Atlantic Sun men's basketball action on Thursday night at FAU
Gymnasium.
FAU (9-17, 6-13)
wrapped a 23-4 run in a 4:43 span around halftime. The Owls
connected on seven threes in that stretch, five by Crumbley, who
made 11-of-18 from long range on the night.
The
Owls also clinched a spot in next week's A-Sun Tournament at
Nashville, Tenn., eliminating the Camels (3-23, 3-16) in the
process. Campbell lost its 31st-straight road game dating to the
2002 season.
FAU connected on
18-of-39 threes (.462). Sixteen of the Owls' first 21 field goals
made came from beyond the arc.
Crumbley scored 24
points in the first half on 8-of-12 three-point shooting. FAU hit
10-of-21 threes in the opening half alone. He also set a record
for most points scored in a game by a Campbell opponent in the
program's Division I history (since 1977-78). Sammy Drummer of
Georgia Tech scored 37 points against the Camels on Feb. 26, 1979,
a number matched by Pembroke State's Roger Carr on Feb. 9,
1981.
Sophomore Corey Parker
led Campbell with a career-high 24 points, 17 in the second half.
Freshman Anthony Atkinson added 19 on 8-of-10 shooting, while frosh
Diego Aguiar came off the bench to score 14 with a team-high six
rebounds.
Mike Bell and Jeff
Cowans added 14 points each for FAU, which held a 49-37 advantage
on the glass, including 24 offensive boards.
Crumbley keyed a 14-2
run over the last 2:58 of the first period to turn a one-point
deficit into a 45-34 cushion at the break. In the process, he
became the leading scorer in school history and now has 1525
points.
Campbell jumped to a
19-8 lead in the first 8:10 of play on the strength of a 14-5 run.
However, the Owls responded with a 13-2 rally, which included a
trio of Crumbley threes to tie the score at 21-21 with 8:30 left in
the opening half.
FAU shot 41 percent
(30-73) on the game from the floor. Campbell hit 49 percent of its
shots (31-63), 9-of-23 from 3-point territory.
Campbell closes its
season on Saturday at the University of Central Florida in a 7:30
p.m. tip-off. [Box Score]