MACON, GA. – Campbell jumped to a 26-point lead in the first half and went on to a 92-73 win over Mercer Monday night at the University Center.
Following Saturday's 43-point victory at Kennesaw State, the Camels secured their first 2-game A-Sun road trip sweep since Feb. 22-24, 2001 at Florida Atlantic and Central Florida, and in the process took over fourth place in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings.
Campbell (10-12, 7-6) won its third-straight game by holding Mercer (11-11, 5-6) to 43 percent shooting and grabbing a 45-34 advantage on the boards. The Camels have won 7 of their last 11 games, beginning with a 72-57 victory over Mercer Jan. 3 at Buies Creek.
"We've been working toward this goal for a long time," said Camel head coach Robbie Laing. "Now we've won seven of our last 11, and playing pretty good basketball. I had a great feeling about tonight's game when going to and coming back from shoot-around practice today, the bus was quiet.
"It was a focused bunch of guys," Laing continued. "It was not difficult to motivate our team because our kids were prepared to play."
Jonathan Rodriguez led Campbell with 15 points and 10 rebounds – his fourth-straight double-double. Kyle Vejraska added 14 points and Miles Taylor 11 for the Camels, whose bench outscored Mercer's reserves by a 44-16 margin.
Amir Celestin and Matt Gwynne added nine points each, while Junard Hartley and Lorne Merthie (8-8 from the line, 4 steals) had 8 apiece for the Camels, who completed their first season-sweep of the Bears since the 2005-06 season.
James Florence led Mercer with 17 points, but hit just 6-of-18 from the field. E.J. Kusnyer added 16, including 3-of-9 from long range, while Daniel Emerson scored 10 with nine rebounds.
Campbell led by as many as 28 thanks to 49 percent shooting (28-57) and a 31-46 from the line (.674). Mercer made just 37 percent of its shots in the opening half and hit only 16-of-29 from the line (.552).
Campbell used a 19-2 run early and took a 51-28 half-time lead Monday at Mercer. The Camels shot 54 percent in the opening period, while holding the Bears to 37 percent shooting.
Vejraska (9 points) and Gwynne (8) sparked Campbell's 26-3 advantage in bench scoring at the half. Rodriguez added eight points and seven rebounds for the Camels, who held a 25-16 advantage on the glass.
Mercer committed seven first-half turnovers, which the Camels converted into 12 points. CU collected nine offensive rebounds en route to an 8-2 edge in second-chance points. James Florence scored eight points in the first half for Mercer, but made just 3 of 9 shots.
Campbell broke in front early with a 19-2 run that gave the Camels a 19-6 advantage when Miles Taylor connected on a 3 from the left wing with 13:45 to play. The Camels hit 7 of their first 11 shots, including 3 of 4 from long distance.
Over their three-game win streak, the Camels have a 69-24 advantage in points off turnovers. CU scored 27 from 26 Gulf Coast miscues on Wednesday; then converted 24 Kennesaw mistakes into 26 points. Campbell secured 16 points off 12 Mercer mistakes Monday, while committing just 10 turnovers on the night.
After just 22 games in 2008-09, Campbell (10-12) has matched its win total (10-20) from a year ago.
The Camels host three-time defending champion Belmont in a 7:00 p.m. start Friday. The contest will be televised on CSS throughout 12 Southern states.
