BUIES
CREEK,
N.C. Ryann Abraham scored 14 points to lead four double
figure scorers and visiting Appalachian State held off Campbell
71-64 Wednesday in men's basketball action at Carter Gym.
Kellen Brand, Davis Bowne and
Doug McLaughlin Williams added 10 points apiece for the
Mountaineers (3-2), who won their second straight game.
Jonathan Rodriguez led
Campbell (1-3) with 21 points, including 13-of-14 from the foul
line, and 12 rebounds for his third-straight double-double. Kyle Vejraska added 17 points on
7-of-13 shooting, while Reggie Bishop had eight points and eight
boards for the Camels, who dropped their third-straight
game.
Appalachian closed the first
half on a 12-0 run and scored the first bucket of the second period
to lead by 19 (41-22) with 19:44 remaining. Campbell chipped away thanks in part
to 15 second-half turnovers by the Mountaineers, but could draw no
closer than seven.
Campbell shot just 24 percent (7-29)
from the floor in the opening half and made only 6-of-13 (.462)
from the stripe in first 20 minutes. Appalachian, meanwhile, hit 50 percent
of its first-half shots, including 6-of-15 (.400) from 3-point
distance and used separate 12-1 and 12-0 runs to build its 39-22
advantage at the break.
Appalachian finished the game
shooting 50 percent (22-44) from the field and made 20-of-32 from
the line (.625). The
Mountaineer bench outscored Campbell's by a 32-12 margin, including
28 points from Bowne, McLaughlin-Williams and Donald Sims
(8).
The Camels forced 21
turnovers and converted those in 22 points, but made only 33
percent (20-61) from the floor and just 5-of-15 (.333) threes. Campbell finished the game
shooting only 61 percent (19-31) from the line, 13-of-18 (.722) in
the final period. The
Camels committed just nine turnovers for the game.
Appalachian finished with a
42-35 advantage on the boards, led by McLaughlin-Williams'
nine.
Campbell led 14-13 on Rodriguez'
driving bucket with 8:52 left in the opening period, but went 3:35
without a field goal in the midst of a 12-1 Appalachian burst. Eduardo Bermudez, Abraham and
Sims each sank 3-pointers during the burst that left the
Mountaineers in front 25-15 with 5:46 left in the
period.
The Camels scored
six-straight to cut the edge to 25-21 on Rodriguez' two free throws
before a pair of treys from Brand keyed ASU's half-closing 12-0
flurry.
After Donte Minter opened the
second period with a short jumper from the left blocks, the Camels
rattled off 10-straight points to cut the gap to nine. ASU built the advantage back to 15 and
the Camels were unable to draw within single digits until
Vejraska's lay-in with 3:33 to go trimmed the margin to
58-50.
Campbell returns to action Saturday at
home in a 1:00 p.m. tip-off against Radford. Appalachian opens Southern Conference
play Monday at home against No.-25 Davidson in a 7:00 p.m.
tap.