Contact: Stan Cole

Campbell Closes On 15-2 Run To Defeat Mercer 86-80

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell outscored Mercer 15-2 over the final 3:23 and defeated the Bears 86-80 Saturday in Atlantic Sun men's basketball action at Carter Gym.

Mercer (1-2, 0-1) led 78-71 after Andrew Brown's drive with 4:00 remaining, but the Bears missed five of their last six shots. Four different Camels scored in the game-ending flurry as CU hit six of their last seven shots.

The Fighting Camels (2-3, 2-0) won back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 2002 and improved to 2-0 in the league for the first time since 1996-97.

Eric Smith scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to lead Campbell. Ruell Pringle added a season-high 19 – including 10 in the final 5:00 of play --, while Maurice Latham contributed 11, plus a career-best 13 rebounds. Ledell Eackles had 11 – nine in the final period – and Diego Aguiar 10, plus seven boards.

Jacob Skogen led Mercer with a game-high 24 points, including 12-of-14 foul shots. Andrew Brown added 17, Ross Alacqua 12, while Will Emerson and Shaddean Aaron contributed 10 each for the Bears.

Mercer, which led by as many as 11 points in the second half, held a 76-67 edge when Skogen converted a 3-point play with 4:56 to go. Pringle, however, scored on the next two possessions on a mid-range jumper and a drive to the hoop.

The decisive rally began when Pringle found Eric Smith for a 3 that cut the margin to 78-74 with 3:23 to go. Aguiar's block on the next possession started Pringle's coast-to-coast drive. The sophomore from Virginia Beach, Va., was fouled and converted the old-fashioned 3-point play to cut Mercer's lead to just one with 2:45 left.

Pfohl shot an air-ball on the ensuing possession and Latham fed Pringle for a jumper with 1:50 to go that put the Camels in front for good. Aguiar's stickback gave CU an 81-78 lead with 1:13 remaining.

Skogen's bucket ended Campbell's string of 10 unanswered points and cut the gap to one, before Latham answered with a 12-footer for an 83-80 edge with 50 seconds left. Skogen then missed a three, and Eackles rebounded. Smith then hit the last of his 6 threes deep into the shot clock with 8 seconds to go that capped the scoring.

Campbell scored 56 points in the second half, shooting 59.5 percent (22-37) during the period. The Camels hit 13 threes in a school-record tying 36 attempts and held a 51-28 advantage on the boards. Six different Camels pulled in at least five rebounds, including Aguiar, who had seven in just 16 minutes.

The Camels held an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points, grabbing 20 offensive rebounds to just four for the Bears.

Mercer led 33-30 at half-time as Campbell shot just 27 percent (11-41) from the floor in the opening stanza.

In addition to dealing a career-high seven assists, Pringle tied his career-best with six boards. Eackles hit each of his 3-point attempts in the second-half and had six assists. Smith canned 6-of-14 treys, 4-of-8 in the final half.

The Camels finished the game shooting 42.3 percent (33-78) from the field, while Mercer shot 45.9 percent (28-61).

Campbell takes an 11-day break for final exams before hosting North Carolina A&T on Dec. 14. Mercer continues its two-game A-Sun swing on Monday at Gardner-Webb. [ Box Score ]