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Atkinson's Bucket Lifts Campbell Over A&T 68-67; Camels End 35-Game Road Slide

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Anthony Atkinson's coast-to-coast drive with 3.9 seconds left provided the winning margin and Campbell defeated North Carolina A&T 68-67 Saturday to end a 35-game road losing streak.

Atkinson, the smallest man on the floor, took the inbounds pass following Steven Koger's jumper that gave the Aggies (1-7) a 67-66 lead with 9.6 seconds to play. The sophomore point guard from Wilson, N.C., drove up the right wing, faked a pass in the paint, then scooped in a right-handed lay-up off the glass with 3.9 seconds to go.

Sean Booker's long three-point attempt at the buzzer was long and left and the Camels (2-3) won on the road for the first time since defeating Jacksonville State 84-79 on Jan. 19, 2002.

In a game where the lead changed six times in the final 2:16, junior transfer Maurice Latham led Campbell with season highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Comerlee Poole scored a season-best 15, while grabbing nine boards – eight in the final half.

Atkinson finished with 14 points, a career-high nine rebounds, and five assists. He made 2-of-4 threes and has now canned 12-of-23 from long distance on the year. Freshman Ruell Pringle hit double digits for the second-straight contest with 14.

Koger and Greg Roberts led A&T with 17, while Booker finished with 15 points. Koger came off the bench to hit 7-of-10 shots.

The Aggies jumped to a 17-9 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game and led 36-33 at the break as Campbell hit just 37 percent from the field and committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Campbell, however, shot 54 percent from the floor in the second half and made more foul shots (14-24) than A&T attempted (8-13).

"We have kids who were really focused the last couple of days in practice and the last two weeks of preparation," said Campbell head coach Robbie Laing. "But today, from walk-through at 11 a.m., through our ride on the bus, they were preparing to battle. I think it's even more important winning a close game, than if we had by a double-digit margin. I wasn't very comfortable going through it, but in the end, it was probably more beneficial for our team."

After Gregory Davis' old-fashioned 3-point play, A&T led 44-39 with 14:28 remaining. However, Campbell scored eight unanswered points, capped by Poole's lay-in off Russ Gibson's assist to go in front 47-43 with 11:27 left.

Poole's 3-point play with 5:38 remaining stretched the gap to 58-52, but Roberts scored seven points in an 11-4 North Carolina A&T run and the Aggies went up 63-62 with 2:16 remaining. However, Atkinson's drive set up Poole's bucket in the paint on the next possession.

Booker then missed from long range, Poole rebounded, and Atkinson found Gibson in the right corner for a 3-point attempt. Gibson missed, but was fouled by Demetrius Guions with 54 seconds to play.

Gibson, however, missed all three free throws and Koger's pullup gave A&T its last lead at 65-64 with 27 seconds to go. Poole then put the Camels back on top on a pair of foul shots with 19 seconds to go, setting up the final sequence.

Campbell finished the game shooting 44.6 percent (25-56) from the field and made 4-of-11 threes. A&T hit 44.4 percent (28-63) of its shots, but just 3-of-26 from 3-point range. The Camels held a 40-34 edge on the glass.

The Fighting Camels open Atlantic Sun Conference play on the road Tuesday against Florida Atlantic in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

"If we're going to win games, we have no choice but to win on the road, with eight of our first nine away from home," said Laing. "It's a blessing that we won a non-conference game on the road heading into a conference game because the league is the most important part of our schedule." [ Box Score ]