NASHVILLE, TENN.
- Justin Hare led four Belmont scorers in double figures with 16
points and the Bruins dealt Campbell a 92-68 Atlantic Sun men's
basketball setback Saturday at the Curb Event Center.
Belmont (18-9, 12-4) hit 14-of-34
threes (.412) on the afternoon to win for the fifth time in six
games while dealing Campbell (11-16, 6-11) its third-straight loss.
Keaton Belcher came off the bench to add 15 points on 5-of-8
triples, while Andrew Preston and Andy Wicke added 13 apiece for
the Bruins.
Jonathan Rodriguez topped Campbell with 21 points - 19 in the
second half - plus 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the
year. Reggie Bishop scored 15 on 6-of-9 shooting.
Wicke keyed a 19-6 Belmont run midway through the first half with
all 10 of his opening period points and the Bruins led 31-19 with
6:18 remaining. Belmont led 52-30 at the break as Campbell went
more than nine minutes with just one field goal. Belcher added nine
first-half points off the bench on 3-of-4 threes.
The Bruins made 8-of-17 (.471) threes in the opening period and
19-of-36 (.528) field goals overall. Campbell shot just 34.8
percent (8-of-23) from the floor, 3-of-9 from 3-point range, but
made 11-of-15 from the line (.733). Jonathan Rodriguez, Eric Smith
and Ledell Eackles combined to go 0-for-8 from the field in the
opening stanza.
Campbell was unable to cut the gap to fewer than 17 in the second
half. The Fighting Camels finished the game shooting 40.8 percent
(20-49) from the floor, but made just 4-of-17 (.235) threes. CU
converted 24-of-33 free throws (.727).
Belmont shot 48.5 percent (32-66) from the floor and hit 14-of-20
foul shots (.700). Belmont finished with a 40-33 edge on the glass,
topped by Matthew Dotson's nine boards.
The Fighting Camels fell to 1-13 on the road this year, 1-8 against
the A-Sun away from home.
In the opening minutes of the first half, Campbell senior guard
Ledell Eackles tied the school single-season record of 77 steals
set by Brad Childress in 1988-89. He then broke the record with two
thefts on consecutive Belmont possessions with just under 14
minutes remaining in the contest. Eackles, who ranks fifth
nationally in steals at 2.9 per game, finished with seven thefts
and now has 82 on the year.
Campbell returns to action Thursday at home against Division I
independent Longwood in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.