Friday, January 7, 2005

Contact: Stan Cole

Gardner-Webb Edges Campbell 69-66

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Brian Bender scored 22 points and A-Sun leader Gardner-Webb held off upset-minded Campbell 69-66 Friday night at Paul Porter Arena.

Bender hit the 20 point mark for the fifth time in the last six games and the Bulldogs continued their best start ever in league play since joining the Atlantic Sun three years ago.

Tim Jennings scored all 13 of his points in the second half and the Bulldogs (8-4, 5-0) remained the only unbeaten team in the league. Simon Conn added 12, plus a team-leading nine rebounds. T.J. McCullough dealt 10 assists with just one turnover.

Ruell Pringle led Campbell (2-10, 0-5) with 20 points and five assists. Dominique Klein added 12, plus six boards, while Comerlee Poole had 12 points and nine caroms. Maurice Latham contributed eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Pringle had a chance to tie the game, but his 22-footer hit the front of the rim at the buzzer and Campbell lost its seventh-straight game.

The loss ended a tough week for the Camels, who dropped an overtime decision to Belmont Monday, then suffered a four-point setback against Lipscomb Wednesday.

On Friday, Gardner-Webb used an 8-0 surge midway through the second half and led by nine with 10 minutes to play. Pringle's three whittled the gap to 66-64 with 3:54 to go, but Bender answered with a pull-up jumper at the foul line on the next possession.

Latham's drive cut the gap to 69-66 with 1:09 to play and the Bulldogs were unable to extend the margin when Jennings missed the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds to go. However, Pringle's triple from the left of the key came up just short.

Campbell held Gardner-Webb to just 38.5 percent shooting, marking the third-straight game that the Camels have limited their foe to less than 40 percent from the field. Campbell shot 47 percent from the floor and won the rebounding battle 42-34.

However, the Camels committed 18 turnovers and made just 3-10 from 3-point territory. Gardner-Webb hit 7-24 triples, but just 2-10 in the final half.

The Camels return to action Thursday at Mercer and Saturday at Georgia State, concluding a stretch of 10 road games in 12 outings. [Box Score]