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Campbell University

Men's Basketball

Lipscomb holds off Campbell 81-76

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Lipscomb reeled off a 16-2 run midway through the second half and held off Campbell 81-76 Thursday night in men's basketball action at Gore Arena.

Adnan Hodzic scored 22 points, while Brandon Barnes and Jordan Burgason added 12 apiece for the Bisons (15-10, 10-6 A-Sun), who overcame a nine-point deficit with 18:49 left and halted a two-game losing streak.

Eric Griffin and Junard Hartley both scored career highs for Campbell (11-14, 5-10) which played its second game without 2nd-leading scorer Lorne Merthie (knee). Griffin tallied 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-7 threes, while adding 3 steals and 2 blocks. Martell Jackson pulled down a game-high 7 rebounds.

Hartley scored 20 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, plus 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Rico Ferguson added 10 points and Amir Celestin 8 for the Camels, whose losing streak reached four games, their longest of the season.

Campbell led 42-38 at the half, then Preston Dodson scored underneath and Hartley hit a trey to push the margin to 47-38 with 18:49 to go. Jackson's bucket on the blocks gave the Camels a 51-44 edge with 15:32 to play, but CU went the next 7:04 without a field goal.

In the meantime, Lipscomb scored 16 of the next 18 points and led 60-53 on Justin Glenn's free throws with 8:50 to go. The Bisons lead reached 8 down the stretch, the final time on Barnes' drive with 1:36 to play that pushed the gap to 78-70.

Consecutive threes from Griffin and Hartley cut the margin to 78-76 with 53.3 seconds to play before Josh Slater's short bank in traffic at the end of the shot clock pushed Lipscomb's lead to 80-76 with 22.9 seconds remaining.

Griffin missed both ends of a two-shot foul opportunity, but Hartley collected the loose ball in the left corner. However, the senior's 3-point effort fell short; Hodzic pulled in the rebound, and hit a foul shot for the final margin.

Lipscomb shot 54.9 percent (28-51) on the night, hit 6-of-15 (.400) from 3-point range and 19-of-32 (.594) from the foul line and finished with a 32-23 edge on the glass.

The Camels hit 54.2 percent (26-48) of their field goal attempts, 44 percent (11-25) in the second period, 8-of-12 threes and 16-of-22 (.727) from the line. Lipscomb finished with a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points, but CU had a 15-5 edge in points off turnovers. Both teams had 12 miscues for the game.

Griffin (20) and Hartley (10) combined for 30 of Campbell's 42 first-half points and the Camels led 42-38 at the break. Griffin made 7-of-8 shots, 5-of-6 from 3-point range, while Hartley hit 4-of-5 from the field.

The Camels took the lead midway through the opening stanza thanks to an 8-2 run and led by as many as 6 before intermission. The Camels shot 65.2 percent (15-23) from the floor in the first half and made 5-of-7 threes, plus 7-of-8 from the line.

Hodzic scored 10 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting. The Bisons hit 57.5 percent (15-26) of their first-period shots, 4-of-8 from long range, but only 4-of-10 from the stripe.

Campbell continues its home stand Saturday in a 3:15 p.m. tip-off against league-leading Belmont (22-4, 14-1).

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Players Mentioned

Amir Celestin

#2 Amir Celestin

G
6' 1"
Junior
Preston Dodson

#51 Preston Dodson

F
6' 6"
Senior
Rico Ferguson

#3 Rico Ferguson

G
6' 2"
Freshman
Eric Griffin

#21 Eric Griffin

F
6' 8"
Junior
Junard Hartley

#12 Junard Hartley

G
6' 3"
Senior
Martell Jackson

#22 Martell Jackson

C
6' 10"
Junior
Lorne Merthie

#25 Lorne Merthie

G
6' 2"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Amir Celestin

#2 Amir Celestin

6' 1"
Junior
G
Preston Dodson

#51 Preston Dodson

6' 6"
Senior
F
Rico Ferguson

#3 Rico Ferguson

6' 2"
Freshman
G
Eric Griffin

#21 Eric Griffin

6' 8"
Junior
F
Junard Hartley

#12 Junard Hartley

6' 3"
Senior
G
Martell Jackson

#22 Martell Jackson

6' 10"
Junior
C
Lorne Merthie

#25 Lorne Merthie

6' 2"
Junior
G