BUIES
CREEK, N.C. - In a game where the lead changed 14 times and the
score was tied on nine occasions, Jacksonville made the final shot
to claim a 67-65 Atlantic Sun Conference victory over Campbell
Monday night at Gore Arena.
After Amir Celestin tied the score at 65 on two free throws with
8.3 seconds to play Russell Powell drove into the paint and fed
Glenn Powell for a lay-up from the left blocks with one second to
play.
Lorne Merthie's three-quarter court heave fell short and Campbell
(7-5, 1-2) dropped its second-straight game.
Jacksonville (9-3, 3-0) extended its win streak to three games, the
first of which came in overtime on Dec. 20 at 20th-ranked
Florida.
A 5-foot-9 guard, Russell Powell led the Dolphins with 14 points,
including 6-of-6 free throws in the final 3:36 of play, plus 5
assists and 3 steals. Ayron Hardy added 11 points, 7 rebounds and
2 steals, while Glenn Powell added 9 points and 6 boards.
Merthie topped the Camels with 14 points, while Celestin matched
his season-high with 13 on 5-of-6 shooting, plus 5 steals. Eric
Griffin, Preston Dodson and Junard Hartley chipped in 9 apiece for
the Camels, who dropped consecutive games for the first time since
the first two contests of the season.
Neither team led by more than 4 points in the final half, which saw
eight ties and 8 lead changes. Jacksonville finished with a 36-25
edge on the glass and had 13 second-chance points in the final
period.
Campbell forced 20 turnovers and converted those into a 25-15 edge
in points off miscues. The Camels shot 45 percent from the field
and made more free throws (17-24) than Jacksonville attempted
(10-16).
However, the Dolphins hit 51 percent (27-53) from the floor.
An 11-0 run propelled the Camels to an early 13-6 lead capped by
Griffin's jumper with 13:53 remaining in the half. However, the
Dolphins closed the stanza with seven unanswered points to secure a
29-26 edge at the break.
Celestin had 9 points and 5 steals in the opening has for the
Camels, who shot 41 percent (11-27) from the floor and missed all
four of their 3-point attempts. Hardy led the Dolphins with 7
first-half points. JU shot 52 percent (13-25) from the field in
the first stanza.
Campbell saw its 8-game winning streak at Gore Arena come to a
close and lost for only the eighth time in 34 games at the
3-year-old facility.
The Camels and Dolphins, who shared last year's A-Sun regular
season title with Lipscomb and Belmont, have split the last 4
meetings in the series.
Campbell continues a stretch of four games in eight days on
Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against North Florida at Gore
Arena. CU also hosts Kennesaw State Friday (7:00) and Mercer next
Monday (Jan. 10) at 7:00 p.m.