Contact: Stan Cole

ETSU Builds Big Lead; Holds off Campbell 110-96

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Pre-season A-Sun Player of the Year Tim Smith scored a season-high 37 points to lead East Tennessee State to a 110-96 win over Campbell Saturday at Carter Gym.

Smith, a senior guard from Newport News, Va., added nine assists and eight steals, while hitting 15-of-25 from the field, including 3-of-4 threes. Brad Nuckles scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds, while Courtney Pigram added 15 off the bench for the Buccaneers, who won their fourth-straight game.

Travis Strong had 14 points – all before halftime – and Ben Rhoda 12 for ETSU (5-6, 2-2), which led by as many as 32 in the first half.

Maurice Latham led five Camels in double figures with 16 points, but hit just 4-of-12 shots. Comerlee Poole added 15, while Reggie Bishop had 14, Eric Smith 12 and Diego Aguiar 10. Latham and Poole each grabbed eight rebounds and Smith dealt seven assists. Ledell Eackles have five assists and five steals for Campbell (4-8, 3-2), which cut the gap to as little as seven in the second half.

ETSU hit 11 of its first 17 shots, including six threes, and led 30-11 with 12:23 to go in the opening half. The margin reached 25 at 40-15 on Strong's foul shots with 8:50 left in the half before Campbell cut the gap to 42-26, prompting Bucs coach Murry Bartow to call a 30-second timeout.

The Buccaneers then went on a 14-1 run and led 65-33 before Bishop's three at the buzzer narrowed the margin to 65-38 at the break. The 65 points tied the most ever scored against the Camels in a half, matching Marshall's 65 in the second period in Feb. 1982.

ETSU shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the opening half – including 9-of-19 (.474) threes – as Smith had 23 at the break on 10-of-14 shooting. Campbell shot just 28 percent (11-39) in the first period and committed 14 first-half turnovers that ETSU converted into 21 points.

The Bucs led 91-71 with 6:50 to go before Campbell's 11-2 run cut the gap to seven points (93-86) on Latham's free throws with 4:49 to play. Pigram, however, answered on the next possession with a lay-up, Poole missed from point-blank range for the Camels, and Nuckles converted in the paint to push the ETSU edge to double digits for the rest of the way.

ETSU finished the game shooting 51.9 percent (41-79) from the floor, 9-of-22 (.409) from 3-point range and 76 percent (19-25) of the line. Campbell shot 34.9 percent (29-83) from the field, made 11-of-38 threes (7-22 in the second half), and 27-of-38 foul shots (.711). Each team finished with 48 rebounds.

The 96 points scored marked a Campbell school record in a game vs. an A-Sun opponent, topping the 95 CU tallied at Lipscomb Wednesday and vs. Centenary in Jan. 1998.

The Bucs claimed a 54-32 edge in the paint and had 36 points off turnovers, compared to 28 for the Camels. Each team finished with 24 miscues.

Campbell hosts Kennesaw State Monday at 7:00 p.m. ETSU travels to Gardner-Webb Monday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
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