BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Andrew Ryan and Antwon Oliver each hit career highs and Campbell defeated VMI 87-78 Saturday at Gore Arena in a Big South Conference North Division contest.
Ryan scored 27 points in 28 minutes, while Oliver added 17 in 23 and Reco McCarter 14 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes for the Camels, whose reserves outscored the VMI bench 60-18.
Darian Hooker added 11 points and Trey Freeman 10, plus a career-high 14 assists for Campbell (11-16, 6-7), which ended a 6-game losing streak.
D.J. Covington led VMI (11-13, 6-6) with a career-high 31 points, while tying his career best mark with 15 rebounds. Tim Marshall had 18 points off the VMI bench, while Brian Brown added 12. Stan Okoye, the Big South's leading scorer (and 6th in the country, at 21.7 points per game, was held to 9 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the floor.
Point guard Rodney Glasgow, who entered the game averaging 10.7 points and 4.8 assists, only played 5 minutes and did not attempt a shot for the Keydets, who lost their third-straight game.
Campbell held VMI to 38 percent shooting (28-73) and the Camels made as many free throws (25-31) as the Keydets attempted (16-25). VMI entered the game ranked 7th nationally in three-pointers made per game (9.0), but made only 6-of-32 (.188) beyond the arc Saturday.
Oliver made 7-9 shots and all 3 of his free throws for Campbell, which hit 28-58 shots (.483) from the floor and 6-16 threes. Ryan canned 9-14 from the field and all 6 of his foul shots, while grabbing 3 steals. McCarter made 7-8 from the stripe and Hooker knocked down 7-10 free throws.
Campbell led 40-30 at halftime and extended the lead to as much as 16 when Ryan's 3-pointer gave the Camels a 52-36 edge with 13:08 to go. The Camels led 63-50 with 6:34 to play after Ryan made a pair from the line, however Brian's 3 started a 9-0 VMI run that cut the margin to 4.
Covington scored 3-straight baskets off Campbell turnovers to bring the Keydets within 63-59 with 5:29 left, but Ryan scored 7-straight points to push the Camel edge back to double digits.
VMI never drew closer than 8 as the Camels made 14-of-18 from the line over the final 2:17.
Campbell finished with a 42-41 edge on the glass as Marvelle Harris added 9 boards to McCarter's 10. Freeman's 14 assists were the 2nd-most in a game in Campbell's Division I history (since '77-78). Dan Pogue dealt 16 assists in a win over UNC Asheville on Feb. 8, 1993.
The Camels opened up a double-figure lead with a 19-4 run midway through the first half. Freeman started the burst with a 3-pointer that broke a 10-all tie with 12:47 to play, added another triple and had 4 assists in the span. McCarter's lay-up put the Camels in front 29-14 with left in the period.
VMI shot just 12-33 (.364) from the floor, including 3-15 threes, in the first half and trailed 40-30 at the break. The Camels made 53 percent (17-32) of their shots and had a 14-0 edge in fast-break points before intermission.
Oliver (11), Ryan (8) and McCarter (7) combined for 26 points in the opening period as the Camel bench outscored the VMI reserves 28-8 in the first 20 minutes.
The Camels return to action Tuesday in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at Radford.
