BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Lorne Merthie scored nine of his career-high 27 points in overtime and Campbell held off Mercer 80-74 Monday night in Atlantic Sun men's basketball action at Gore Arena.

Despite playing without its top two point guards (Junard Hartley and Amir Celestin), who fouled out in the second half, Campbell (9-6, 3-3) never trailed in the overtime after scoring the first six points of the final segment.

"The five-minute overtime period was some of the most pleasing basketball I've witnessed here because nothing out there looked like it would be conceivable for us to win," said Camel head coach Robbie Laing. "We were down to our third-string point guard, a kid that hadn't played all night and not for the last couple of games (Rico Ferguson) out there, and facing a team that had just come from 15 down to force overtime and was feeling good. It was one of the proudest moments in my eight seasons here for our bunch of kids to pull together, defy adversity and finish with a win."

Brandon Moore's 3 from the right wing cut the gap to 75-74 with 20.9 seconds to play, but Merthie hit a pair of foul shots to extend the margin with 20.3 seconds remaining.

Merthie then rebounded Moore's missed three and again made both foul shots with 11.5 ticks remaining for a 79-74 edge. After Jeff Smith missed, Eric Griffin hit the first of two shots with 0.9 seconds to go for the final margin.

A junior guard from Sanford, Fla., Merthie hit 7-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-8 from 3-point range to go along with a game-high 6 assists. He made 10-of-16 free throws on the night, 7-of-8 in the overtime period, to eclipse his previous high game of 24 points set against Appalachian State on Dec. 30, 2009.

Normally Campbell's starting two-guard, Merthie went 1-of-1 from the field, made his final six free throws, and grabbed 3 rebounds while running the point in overtime.

Preston Dodson, Eric Griffin and Martell Jackson each scored 10 points. Griffin grabbed 11 rebounds, while Marvelle Harris blocked five shots to go along with 8 boards for the Camels, who won their second-straight game and finished a four-game in eight-day stretch with a 2-2 record.

Moore led Mercer (4-12, 1-4) with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Smith finished with 19 and Mills 14 for the Bears, who lost for the fifth time in six outings and dropped to 0-7 on the road this year.

After Campbell built its largest lead (57-42) on Griffin's free throws with 5:19 to play, Mercer closed the second half on a 23-8 run and forced the extra period when Mills hit two free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining.

The Bears had tied the score at 63 on Jeff Smith's jumper from the left baseline with 4.1 seconds to go, but Merthie was fouled at mid-court with 3.1 seconds left. The Camel junior hit both free throws to give the Camels a 65-63 edge.

Mercer advanced to midcourt and called time out with 1.1 seconds left. Langston Hall's inbound pass caromed off the back board and fell to Mills, who was fouled by Celestin with one-tenth of a second showing on the clock.

"We built a 15-point lead, and allowed Mercer to score too many points with the clock stopped, coupled with too many empty trips and quick shots on the other end," said Laing.

Campbell led 25-23 at half-time and bolted to a double-digit lead thanks to consecutive threes from Merthie that left CU in front 42-31 with 14:21 to go.

Mercer's second-half rally started with Jeff Smith's 3 at the 5:08 mark that opened a 14-3 that concluded with two Langston Hall free throws with 2:32 remaining that brought the Bears within 59-56.

CU hit just 9-of-18 from the line in the second half, while Mercer made 22-of-26 (.846) over the same span.

The Camels finished the game shooting 44 percent (27-61) from the floor, 4-of-11 (.364) from 3-point territory and 22-of-39 (.564) from the line and held a 45-41 advantage on the glass.

Mercer shot 35 percent (21-60) for the game, but just 3-of-12 in the overtime session. The Bears hit 6-of-24 threes and 26-of-31 (.839) from the stripe.

Campbell returns to action on Saturday in a 7:15 p.m. (CST) tip-off at A-Sun leader Belmont (14-3, 6-0).