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BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Reco McCarter had a double-double and Campbell made 8-of-10 free throws in the last 2:49 to defeat Southern Illinois Edwardsville 70-65 Wednesday night at Gore Arena.
The Camels (4-6) won their third game in the last four outings as McCarter scored 16 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dealt 6 assists with no turnovers in 31 minutes. D.J. Mason added 15 points, plus 6 boards, while Andrew Ryan chipped in 10 points.
Kris Davis led four Cougars in double figures with 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting for the floor. Maurice Wiltz and Rozell Nunn added 11 each, while Donivine Stewart plus 6 assists for SIUE (1-7), which lost its seventh-straight contest.
Campbell took its largest lead (42-30) after Ryan scored on a cut to the basket with 19:00 to play. However, SIUE made 8 of its first 13 shots of the second half and pulled even at 48 on Nunn's 3-point play with 9:38 remaining.
After Davis canned a pair from the line to tie the game at 55, Nehemiah Mabson hit a right corner 3 to give the Camels the lead for good with 6:30 to play. CU stretched the lead to 64-57 with 2:49 remaining after Kyre' Hamer hit both ends of a 1-and-1 opportunity.
SIUE made one final charge and cut the gap to 66-65 on Stewart's 3-point play with 29.3 seconds to go. Quinton Ray then knocked down two free throws for a 68-65 lead. Stewart got a look at a long three that missed and McCarter corralled the rebound with 10.3 seconds to play. The senior from Goldsboro made two from the line in the last 10 seconds to seal the victory.
"As young as we are together, we haven't been in a situation often where we have a lead then do all the tough and hard things to close out a win," said second-year Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan. "When you make your free throws, you make it a heckuva lot easier on yourself down the stretch."
The Camels hit 18-of-24 from the line on the night (.750), finished with a 35-29 advantage on the glass, and committed only nine turnovers.
Campbell shot 44.9 percent (22-49) from the floor, made 8-of-21 (.381) threes and had assists on 73 percent of its baskets (16 of 22). SIUE of the Ohio Valley Conference finished the night shooting 43 percent (22-51) overall, 7-of-16 (.438) beyond the arc and 14-of-22 (.636) from the stripe.
McCarter logged season-high totals in rebounds, assists and minutes played while hitting 4-of-7 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point distance and 6-of-8 from the stripe. Mason made 7-of-14 shots to record his ninth double-figure scoring effort in 10 games this season.
"I'm not surprised Reco played well because he had two great days of practice coming in," said McGeehan. "He was really zeroed in tonight. But every single guy that went into the game contributed to this win."
The Camels allowed only four offensive rebounds against an SIUE team that started 6-foot-10 Grant Fiorentinos and brought 6-foot-10 Keaton Jackson off the bench. That duo totaled only six rebounds in combined minutes.
SIUE, which fell 67-61 at Atlantic 10 member Saint Louis in its last outing, dropped its fourth decision this year by a margin of six points or fewer. Campbell improved to 3-1 at home and SIUE slid to 0-5 on the road.
Campbell made 5 of its last 7 shots in the first half and took a 37-30 lead into the dressing room when McCarter swished a 3 as time expired.
CU made just 1 of its first 10 shots, but knocked down 12 of 19 (.631) to finish the first half. McCarter hit 4-of-5 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from the arc, and 4-of-4 from the stripe in a 14-point opening period.
Campbell continues its three-game home stand Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off against Montreat.
