BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Lorne Merthie and William Kossangue hit season
scoring highs and Campbell defeated Jacksonville 73-57 Saturday to
improve to 2-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Merthie scored 17 points, Kossangue 13 and Jonathan Rodriguez added
14, plus 12 rebounds for Campbell (6-3, 2-0). Ben Smith led
pre-season A-Sun favorite Jacksonville (1-6, 0-1) with 16 points,
but committed five of the Dolphins' 24 turnovers.
Campbell led by 12 points at half-time and the Dolphins never cut
the lead to single digits in the final period. The Camels
converted JU's turnovers into a 24-12 advantage in points off
miscues. Merthie had a career-high five steals to go along with a
6-of-10 shooting performance (4-of-7 from three-point
territory).
The Camels limited Jacksonville to 43 percent shooting from the
floor and just 2-of-15 from 3-point range (.133). Campbell hit
29-of-38 (.763) from the free throw line, while the Dolphins made
only 7-of-11.
Campbell scored the first nine points of the game; then rode a 13-4
flurry to build a 16-point edge (33-17) on Kyle Vejraska's runner
with 3:01 left in the period. Merthie scored 12 first-half points
on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, while grabbing four steals,
as the Camels took a 35-23 lead at half-time.
The Camels forced 13 Jacksonville turnovers and converted those
into 15 points prior to the break. JU shot just 39 percent (11-28)
from the field and did not attempt a free throw in the opening
stanza.
Campbell hit 12-of-25 from the field (.480), 4-of-9 from 3-point
distance, and 7-of-9 from the stripe before intermission.
Rodriguez, who entered the game ranked fifth among league scoring
leaders (16.4) had just three first-half points, but the Camels
still led by a dozen at the time.
Amir Celestin came off the bench to deal five assists for the
Camels. Vejraska finished with nine points. Rodriguez'
double-double extended his Atlantic Sun Conference record to 45 for
his career.
JU won
the 2009 league regular season title and advanced to the NIT after
losing in the A-Sun final to East Tennessee State. JU was picked
atop this year's A-Sun pre-season poll, while the Camels were
tabbed sixth.
Jacksonville's
1-6 record is deceiving in that four of the team's losses have come
against power conference members, including an 85-67 setback
against 13th-ranked Florida. JU also lost at Florida State, Cal
and South Carolina. The Dolphins' schedule is rated as the
country's 2nd-toughest at this point in the season by the Sagarin
rankings.
Campbell entered the contest ranked sixth in the country, and atop
the A-Sun, in steals (11.13) and finished with 13 thefts.
The victory was the sixth in the last nine meetings for the
Camels. Campbell improved to 7-3 all-time vs. JU in Buies Creek
and leveled the overall series at 11 wins apiece.
The Camels travel to Longwood for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off Tuesday.
Jacksonville continues its two-game A-Sun road trip Monday at East
Tennessee State (7:00).
