JACKSONVILLE,
FLA. - Jacksonville ended the game on a 15-5 run and dealt Campbell
a 71-58 Atlantic Sun Conference loss Monday night at Swisher
Gym.
Eric Griffin's dunk in transition brought the Camels within 56-53
with 3:38 remaining, but Ayron Hardy and Keith McDougald each had
five points in the final push to lead JU (14-6, 8-3) to its
third-straight victory.
Lorne Merthie's 3-point play cut the gap to 63-58 with 1:53 to go,
but JU scored on its next 3 possessions, while the Camels went
0-for-3 from the field with one turnover down the stretch.
Griffin led Campbell (11-11, 5-7) with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2
blocks and 4 steals. The junior from Orlando hit 8-of-12 from the
floor and 4-of-4 from the line. He has made 42-of-65 shots (.646)
while averaging 17 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last 6
games.
Rico Ferguson added 10 points and Junard Hartley 9 for the Camels,
who committed 28 turnovers that JU converted into 20 points.
McDougald led five Dolphins in double figures with 15 points on
5-of-7 shooting. Hardy added 11, while Delwan Graham, Travis Cohn
and Russell Powell chipped in 10 apiece.
Jacksonville shot 47.9 percent (23-48) from the field, made
20-of-28 (.714) from the line and finished with a 29-26 advantage
on the boards. Campbell shot 41.7 percent from the floor, 16-of-19
from the stripe (.842), but hit just 2-of-9 threes.
The Dolphins led 32-27 at half-time thanks to 50 percent shooting
and a 16-8 edge on points in the paint. Cohn led JU with 8
first-half points, including a pair of threes, while Griffin had 11
before the break for the Camels.
With 112 blocked shots through 22 games, Campbell continues to lead
the A-Sun in rejections (5.1 per outing) and is only six short of
breaking the school team record for blocks in a year (117 set in
1997-98).
Campbell dropped to 3-7 on the road, while Jacksonville improved to
7-1 at home.
The
Camels return to action Saturday in a 4:30 p.m. tip-off at
Mercer.