BUIES
CREEK,
N.C. – Courtney Pigram and Mike Smith came off the bench to
combine for 29 points and East Tennessee State spoiled Campbell's
final home game at Carter Gym with a 96-87 victory Monday night.
Travis Strong led six double
figure scorers for ETSU with 20 points, including 4-of-10
threes. Pigram added 18,
plus seven assists. Andrew
Reed scored 14 points, while Jocolby Davis (12), Smith (11) and
Kenyona Swader (11) also hit double figures.
ETSU (17-12, 10-5 Atlantic
Sun) hit 58 percent of its shots in the second half and 55 percent
for the game and held a 31-1 edge in bench scoring over the Camels
(10-17, 5-9). The Bucs made
10-of-25 (.400) threes and finished with a 46-36 edge on the
glass.
Campbell, which dropped its
fifth-straight game, hit only 40 percent of its shots, including
8-of-18 (.286) from 3-point range. The Camels, however, converted 19 ETSU
turnovers into a 23-15 advantage in points off miscues to stay
close in front of a capacity crowd of 947, CU's sixth sell-out this
season.
Jonathan Rodriguez – one
of six players in the nation to average more than 20 points and 10
rebounds – led Campbell with 31 points (11-of-23 from the
floor) and 12 rebounds.
Senior Reggie Bishop, playing
in his final home game – added 17 points, while freshman
Junard Hartley chipped in a season-high 16 points, plus seven
assists. Kyle Vejraska
added 13 points, while Jake Wohlfeil scored 9 points in his Carter
Gym finale.
The Camels started the second
half on a 15-1 run that extended to 22-5 and held their largest
lead (58-53) with 15:15 to play after Bishop's three-point
bucket.
However, Strong sandwiched a
jumper and triple around a CU turnover and the Bucs reeled off a
31-10 flurry that pushed the gap to 84-68 with 6:17 remaining. The Camels cut the gap to seven
(94-87) on Hartley's drive with 12 seconds left that ended a 9-1
rally, but drew no closer.
Campbell missed nine of its first 10
shots, while the Bucs made 3-of-5 triples and just to a 14-2 lead
over the first 5:21 of play. The Bucs led 31-17 with 7:04 left in
the opening period on Strong's pull-up three on the break before
the Camels cut the margin with a 10-0 run.
ETSU, however, reeled off a
17-9 burst to close the period with a 48-36 edge at the
break.
Home to Campbell basketball
games since Feb. 20, 1953, Carter Gym has the second-smallest
seating capacity (947) of all Division I men's basketball
arenas. The Charleston
Southern Fieldhouse (790) is the only smaller building among the
341 Division I members.
Campbell will move into the John W.
Pope Jr. Convocation Center and 3100-seat Gilbert Craig Gore Arena
next fall.
The Fighting Camels close the
A-Sun regular season this week with games at Belmont (Thursday) and
Lipscomb (Saturday). The
Atlantic Sun Championship tournament is Mar. 5-8 at Nashville,
Tenn.
