Contact: Stan Cole

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Russ Gibson scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and Campbell defeated Belmont 79-67 in Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball action Thursday night at Carter Gym.

Gibson led five double figure scorers as Campbell (8-9, 3-4) ended a 12-game losing streak against the Bruins. Ledell Eackles scored 15 points, plus five steals. Reggie Bishop added 12, while Jonathan Rodriguez and Kyle Vejraska had 10 apiece for the Camels, who ended a three-game slide while improving to 7-1 at home this season.

Justin Hare was the lone Bruin in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Belmont (12-7, 6-2) dropped its second-consecutive decision. Campbell never trailed after an early 20-4 burst put the Camels in front 25-9. Belmont never drew closer than six the rest of the game.

Gibson, a senior from Henderson, Ky., notched his highest-scoring game ever against an A-Sun opponent. The 6-foot-9 forward made 6-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the line while grabbing six rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

Eackles scored 12 of his points in the opening half when the Camels took a 38-27 half-time edge. Campbell made 7-of-16 threes in the first period and held the Bruins to just 40.7 percent shooting in the opening half.

With the score tied at 5-5, five different Camels scored in a 12-0 flurry. Campbell stretched the margin to 25-9 on Rodriguez' three with 8:43 left in the period.

Campbell led 60-50 with 11:53 left in the second half before the defending A-Sun champs cut the gap to 60-54 with 8:33 left on Shane Dansby's tip-in. However, Rodriguez scored on a lay-up and the Bruins were unable to cut the margin closer than seven the rest of the way.

The Fighting Camels notched their first victory over Belmont since the Bruins joined the A-Sun in 2001-02 and ended a 12-game slide since winning the first-ever meeting between the schools in January 1998. The last two games between the A-Sun rivals at Carter Gym went into overtime before the Bruins won.

Campbell finished the game shooting 47.2 percent from the floor against the A-Sun's stingiest defensive squad. Belmont entered the contest ranked first in the league in scoring defense (62.5) and field goal percentage defense (.387).

Led by Eackles, who hit 3-of-4 from long range, Campbell made 9-of-21 threes and posted a season low with just 11 turnovers. Rodriguez grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, just missing his 10th double-double of the year. Jake Wohlfeil had five assists and Eackles four dishest for the Camels.

The Fighting Camels return to action Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. tip-off against Lipscomb. Belmont travels to Gardner-Webb for a 7:00 p.m. start Saturday. [Box Score]