BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Freshmen Michael Kessens and Lucas Woodhouse combined for 42 points and Longwood defeated Campbell 79-66 Wednesday at Gore Arena.
Kessens tied his career high with 22 points, while Woodhouse hit his career best with 20, plus eight assists for the Lancers (7-23, 4-11), who won their fourth game in the last six outings. Jeylani Dublin added 15 points and Karl Ziegler 14.
Andrew Ryan led Campbell (12-18, 7-8) with 16 points, while Leek Leek, Marvelle Harris and Reco McCarter added 11 each. Trey Freeman finished with 8 points and 6 assists for the Camels, who dropped their second-straight game.
After Freeman gave the Camels a 49-48 lead on a driving bucket with 11:37 to play, Woodhouse pulled down an offensive rebound and canned a three from the left wing to start a 9-2 Lancers burst that gave the visitors the lead for good (51-49).
Longwood made 57.7 percent (15-26) of its second-half shots, 50 percent (28-56) on the game, canned 20-of-24 free throws and made just four turnovers in the final 20 minutes. Campbell made 38.7 percent (24-62) of its attempts from the field and 15-of-20 from the stripe.
Campbell needs a win Saturday at High Point (4:00 p.m.) to hold on to second place in the Big South Conference North Division standings. The top two seeds in each division earn a first-round bye in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championship, next week at Conway, S.C.
Big South player of the week Tristan Carey entered Wednesday's game averaging 31.3 points over the last 3 Longwood games, but he made only 1-of-12 from the floor and finished with 4 points.
Ryan scored 8 of his points in a 10-0 Camel run that put CU in front 17-9 with 13:23 left in the opening half. However, Longwood answered with an 11-4 spurt and took a 30-29 lead at the break.
The teams have evenly split the eight-game series and neither has won twice in the same year against the other. Campbell defeated Longwood 83-73 last month at Farmville, Va.
Prior to Wednesday's game, the Camels honored graduating seniors Darren White and Jay Baugham. A wing from Danville, Va., White owned the nation's seventh-highest scoring average on Jan. 5 (21.8 points per game), when he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Baugham, who hails from Lasker, N.C., served as team manager.
