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Box Score (PDF)
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Seven-footer Jaleel Roberts hit career highs with 14 points and 12 rebounds and UNC Asheville defeated Campbell 69-65 Saturday in Big South Conference men's basketball action at Gore Arena.
David Robertson added 21 points and Andrew Rowsey 19, plus 5 assists, while Ahmad Thomas chipped in a career-best 10 points for the Bulldogs (8-8, 4-1 Big South), who shot 52 percent from the floor.
Freshman Curtis Phillips led Campbell (7-12, 1-5) with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and 6 rebounds. Reco McCarter added 12 points and five steals, while D.J. Mason and Troy Harper contributed nine each. Mason hauled in 10 rebounds for the Camels, who dropped their fifth-straight game.
"We're playing pretty well," said Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan, "but it seems like there are three or four plays each night that keep us from winning. The free throw bug came back and bit us tonight as well."
Campbell shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 8-of-21 threes (.381), but hit only 7-of-17 (.412) from the line. Four of Campbell's five losses in Big South play have come by seven points or less.
Roberts hit all seven of his shot attempts on the game and had 12 points and 10 boards in the second half alone when the Bulldogs rallied. Phillips' dunk in traffic gave the Camels a 40-36 lead with 15:20 to play. However, Robertson scored 11 points, including three triples, in a 13-2 burst that left Asheville ahead 49-42 with 11:08 left.
McCarter hit a pair of treys and Mason's layup brought the Camels within a single point (55-54) with 6:20 to go. Robertson then closed a 9-1 spurt with his fourth three of the day to push the margin to 63-55 with 2:22 remaining. Asheville made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 45 seconds to seal the win.
Only Robertson (6-of-10) and Roberts (6-of-6) scored from the floor in the final stanza for Asheville, which made 9-of-17 threes (.529) and 12-of-17 from the line (.632) on the night.
Campbell led 26-16 after Nehemiah Mabson and Troy Harper hit back-to-back threes with 8:34 left in the opening period. However, Asheville answered with a 9-1 run and cut the gap to 27-25 on Rowsey's step back three with 4:27 to play.
The Camels led 35-32 at the break after hitting 5-of-11 threes in the opening half. Rowsey scored 17 of Asheville's 32 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
Campbell returns to action Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at Presbyterian.
Saturday's game was played in front of a season-high crowd of 2258 at Gore Arena on Alumni Day. Among the former Campbell men's basketball players and coaches who attended Saturday's festivities were five who are members of the Campbell Sports Hall of Fame – Brad Childress, Bob Etheridge, Johnny Marshbanks, Jim Perry and Danny Roberts.
