NASHVILLE, TENN. – Junard Hartley's
3-pointer at the buzzer capped a late Campbell rally and lifted the
Fighting Camels to a 69-68 win over Lipscomb in Atlantic Sun men's
basketball action Thursday night at Allen Arena.
The Camels rallied from a
59-51 deficit with 8:29 to play with a game-ending 18-9 flurry that
sent CU to its third-straight win. The decisive bucket came after
Lipscomb freshman Brian Wright hit a jumper with his foot on the
3-point line with just 5.2 seconds remaining.
After a full-time out called
by the Bisons and a pair of 30-second time outs taken by Campbell,
Amir Celestin dribbled down the left side of the court and fed
Hartley, who made his only shot of the game from the left corner as
the final horn sounded.
For the eighth time in the
last 10 meetings between the schools, the final score was decided
by seven points, or less.
Campbell ended a five-game losing streak against the Bisons despite
getting only four points from Jonathan Rodriguez, who entered the
night ranked third among league scoring leaders at 18.8 points per
contest.
However, freshman Chris
Reynolds came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points, eight
in the second half, including both ends of a one-and-one free throw
opportunity with 2:12 to play. Reynolds finished 4-of-5 from the
floor and, despite entering the game shooting just 43 percent (3-7)
from the line on the season, hit all four of his foul
shots.
Matt Gwynne added 11 points
and a team-leading eight rebounds for Campbell (6-8, 3-2), which
saw a 12-point lead in the first half turn into an eight-point
disadvantage. Brandon
Brown's bucket with 8:29 left capped a 29-11 Lipscomb run around
half-time before the Camels rallied.
Lorne Merthie added nine
points, while Miles Taylor, Amir Celestin and William Kossangue
chipped in eight apiece for the visitors, who ended a 12-game
losing streak away from Buies Creek. Hartley's 3-pointer was just his
second of the year.
Adnan Hodzic topped Lipscomb
with 14 points, 12 in the second half, on 7-of-12 shooting. Josh Slater added 13, while
Wright, Michael Teller and Jordan Burgason added nine each for the
Bisons (6-8, 2-3), who dropped their second-straight A-Sun game at
Allen Arena.
The Camels hit just 4 of
their first 17 shots (.236) in the second half and committed four
turnovers, while Lipscomb made 11-of-16 (.714) in the same span and
took its largest lead of the game on Brown's follow shot with 8:29
to play.
Reynolds' spin move in the
lane with 6:42 to play ended a 4:41 drought for the Camels and
ignited a 9-2 run.
Merthie's 3-point play in transition with 4:12 to play cut the
Lipscomb lead to 61-60.
Matt Gwynne's short bank tied
the game at 66-66 apiece with 45 seconds to go before the closing
sequence.
The Camels finished the game
shooting 44 percent from the field, 9-of-17 (.529) from 3-point
range, and hit all eight of their free throws. Lipscomb shot 41 percent from the
floor, made just 6-of-24 (.250) from long distance and only
10-of-18 (.556) from the free throw line.
Campbell rode a 17-1 run to take a
31-20 lead capped by Taylor's 3-point play with 5:15 left in the
opening period. The Bisons
went 5:04 without a field goal during the Camel burst. The Camels led by 12 before Lipscomb
closed the half on a 9-4 run to pull within 40-33 at the
break.
The Camels shot 52 percent
from the floor in the opening period, compared to 33 percent for
Lipscomb. CU hit 5-of-8
three-pointers and 5-of-5 from the stripe. Lipscomb made only 8-of-15 free throws
and 3-of-12 from long range before intermission.
Celestin came off the bench
to lead the Camels with eight first-half points. Gwynne added seven and Jabril Bailey
six for CU, which held a 20-18 edge on the glass. Wright and Slater topped Lipscomb's
first-half scorers with seven points apiece.
Campbell continues its two-game swing
through Nashville Saturday with a 7:15 p.m. (CST) tip-off at
Belmont.
