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Campbell at Davidson box score (pdf)
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Jake Belford scored a career-high 20 points and Davidson defeated Campbell 86-51 Tuesday night at Belk Arena/McKillop Court.
Belford made 9-of-12 shots on the night and Jordan Barham added 14 on 7-of-7 shooting off the bench for the Wildcats (2-0), who hit 56 percent overall from the field, 10-of-21 from 3-point distance.
Kyre' Hamer led Campbell (1-1) with 16 points to tie his career-best output, while D.J. Mason added 15 and Curtis Phillips 10 for the Camels, who shot 47 percent from the field, but made only 1-of-11 beyond the arc and 4-of-16 from the free throw line.
Davidson, which earned nine post-season berths in the last 10 years as a member of the Southern Conference, used an early 18-2 run to build a double figure lead. Belford's drive started the burst as six different Wildcats scored in the flurry. Oskar Michelsen's triple from the right side pushed the Davidson lead to 26-8 with 9:40 to play in the opening half.
The Wildcats, who are in their first year as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, did not trail and led by as many as 37. Davidson converted 17 Campbell miscues into a 25-8 edge in points off turnovers and finished with a 16-6 advantage in second-chance points.
"We got beat in just about every aspect of the game tonight," said Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan. "There's a lot of improving to do. That being said, I know there's a lot better basketball out there for us, we've seen it in practice. But that's a good team we played tonight, one that is very good at defending the three. I'm just disappointed we didn't coming out and play better."
After missing Campbell's opener last Friday because of an injury, Hamer connected on 7-of-11 shots on the night and grabbed six rebounds in 38 minutes. Mason made 7-of-12 from the floor, while Phillips canned 4-of-7 as both reached double digits for the second-straight game.
The Wildcats shot 53 percent from the field before the break and held a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers. Campbell made 46 percent of its first-half buckets, but was 1-of-6 from 3-point range and 0-6 from the line.
Tuesday's meeting was the first between Campbell and Davidson since the Camels defeated the Wildcats 69-60 in the quarterfinal round of the 1992 Big South tournament. Davidson returned to the Southern Conference the following year.
Campbell hosts Colgate on Saturday (2:00 p.m.) at Gore Arena before embarking on a three-game road stretch. Davidson meets sixth-ranked North Carolina Saturday (2:00) at Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena.