BUIES
CREEK,
N.C. – Belmont recovered from an 18-point deficit in the last
3:27 of play and defeated Campbell 87-84 in Atlantic Sun men's
basketball action Friday night at the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation
Center/Gilbert Craig Gore Arena.
The Bruins (14-8, 10-3)
closed the contest on a 30-9 run and halted Campbell's 3-game
winning streak as the Camels – who entered the game leading
the A-Sun in free throw shooting (.717) – missed 11 of 20 foul
shots and committed two turnovers during the final
stretch.
Alex Renfroe scored 24 points
(16 in the second half), had six assists and made four steals to
lead five Belmont double-figure scorers. Andy Wicke added 16 points, Jon House
13, plus nine rebounds, while Matthew Dotson and Mick Hedgepeth (10
boards) scored 12 apiece.
Jonathan Rodriguez scored 25
points on 8-of-12 shooting, plus 8-of-10 from the line, and grabbed
10 rebounds for Campbell (10-13, 7-7). Amir Celestin added 16 and Preston
Dodson chipped in a season-high 14 for the Camels, who made just
21-of-37 from the stripe in the second half.
The Camels led by 21 with
15:25 remaining and 80-69 after Rodriguez hit both foul shots with
1:42 to go. However, Dotson
canned a pair of three-point shots in the final push, the second
with 21 seconds left that put the Bruins up 85-84.
Lorne Merthie missed on a
drive and Wicke hit a pair of foul shots with nine seconds left for
the 87-84 final margin.
Celestin's contested three at the buzzer bounced off the back
rim.
The Camels used a 13-5 run to
build a double-figure lead midway through the first half. Matt Gwynne's stickback on his
own miss pushed the Camel lead to 26-12 with 8:25 to go and CU led
37-22 at the break.
Campbell shot 50 percent (15-30) from
the floor in the opening period and held a 24-15 edge on the
glass.
Belmont, which defeated the Camels
87-54 on Jan. 10 at Nashville, Tenn., made just 8-of-31 first-half
shots (.258), including 2-of-16 from 3-point range. The Bruins missed their first seven
threes in the second period, but hit 6 of their last 9 from long
range.
Campbell finished the night shooting
48 percent from the field, 6-of-20 from 3-point range, and 24-of-40
(.600) from the line.
Belmont finished the game shooting
42.9 percent, 56.4 percent in the final period, and made 19-of-30
(.633) from the stripe. The
Bruins finished with 43-41 advantage on the glass, including a
28-17 edge in the second half.
Campbell, which has won 7 of its last
12 games, hosts Lipscomb Monday in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
