JACKSONVILLE, FLA. – Lorne Merthie celebrated his 19th birthday by scoring a career-high 22 points and Campbell held off Atlantic Sun Conference leader Jacksonville 89-83 Monday night at Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Camels (11-15, 8-9) never trailed, while building a 25-point lead in the first half, then withstood Jacksonville's late run by hitting 17-of-20 from the line in the final period to win their third road game in the last four away from home.

Jacksonville (14-11, 12-4) twice pulled within six points in the final stanza, including Travis Cohn's three at the final horn, but could not overcome 33 percent shooting in the opening period against Campbell's 2-3 zone.

A freshman from Sanford, Fla., and Winter Springs High School, Merthie scored 16 of his points the opening period. In front of nearly two dozen friends and family members, he finished the game 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-3 from long distance and 5-of-7 from the line. Fellow Floridian Kyle Vejraska (Alachua), making his first start since Dec. 29, tied his season-high with 18 points, while grabbing eight rebounds. Jonathan Rodriguez, who played high school ball at Calusa Prep in Miami, added 17 points, nine boards and five assists, plus three steals. Chris Reynolds tied his season-high with 12 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting.

"It's a delicate balance," said Camel head coach Robbie Laing. "You know a team is going to make a run, certainly on their home court. But I thought our shot selection was good, especially when we got below 20 and 15 seconds on the shot clock."

Ben Smith scored 20 points – 16 in the second half – on 8-of-20 shooting for the Dolphins, who shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half (19-32), but made just 14-of-24 (.583) from the line in the final 20 minutes. Cohn was the only other double-digit scorer for the Dolphins with 11 points. Ayron Hardy and Evan Jefferson scored 9 apiece.

Campbell shot 54 percent (28-52) from the floor, including 7-of-12 (.583) from 3-point range, and made 26-of-30 (.867) from the line, while holding a 39-34 edge over the league's second-best rebounding team. In CU's 76-63 loss to Jacksonville last month at Buies Creek, the Dolphins out-rebounded CU by 26 (49-23).

Jacksonville finished 31-of-68 (.456) from the field, 6-of-21 from beyond the arc (.286) and made just 57.7 percent (15-26) from the stripe.

The Camels scored the first 10 points of the game, including eight from Lorne Merthie and never trailed in the opening half. Campbell hit 16 of its first 23 shots (.696) and made 57 percent in the opening period (16-28). CU connected on 5-of-8 threes (.625) and 9-of-10 from the stripe.

Campbell rode a 20-2 run and built a 25-point lead in the first half. After JU's Ayron Hardy tipped in a missed free throw to cut the Camel lead to 23-16 with 8:45 remaining, Merthie, Rodriguez and Chris Reynolds scored six points each in the Camel burst. Reynolds' post move on the left blocks gave the Camels a 43-18 lead with 4:27 to go.

Merthie went 6-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-3 from the arc and 1-of-1 from the line for 16 first-half points. Rodriguez and Reynolds scored 8 each in the opening period for the Camels, who led 46-27 at half-time.

"Certainly a great start is helpful; it keeps the rim smaller for the other team," said Laing. "Shots they might take in rhythm, and feel good about, just don't happen as often."

Jacksonville converted eight offensive rebounds into a 10-1 edge in second-chance points, but shot just 33 percent (12-36) from the field and made only 1-of-2 free throws in the opening period.

Rodriguez moved into a tie for 6th place with Henry Wilson (1604 points from 1985-89), passing Andrew Broadie (1589) and Danny Gaither (1601) on the all-time Camel scoring charts.

Campbell returns to action on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. at home against USC Upstate.