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BOX SCORE (PDF)

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Kyle Thomas scored 17 points and Morgan State held off Campbell 59-54 Saturday at Gore Arena.

The Bears (1-3) used a 14-4 run midway through the second half to build a 52-43 lead then withstood a late Camel rally to claim their first win of the year.

Clive Vaughan added 12 points and Phillip Carr had nine points, plus 15 rebounds for Morgan State, which shot 50 percent from the field in the final half.

Freshman Chris Clemons led Campbell (1-2) with 14 points and six steals, Troy Harper added 13 points and Curtis Phillips 12 for the Camels, who made only 12-of-23 (.522) free throws, just 7-of-17 (.412) in the second half.  D.J. Mason added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Camels, who lost their second-straight outing.

Trailing 52-43 after Donte Pretlow made the first of two foul shots with 2:31 remaining, Harper drove to the basket to cut the gap to seven.  Pretlow missed the front end of a one-and-one and Phillips canned two foul shots to draw the Camels within 52-47 with 1:56 to play.

Applying full-court pressure, Quinton Ray stole the ball in the back court and Phillips' stick-back cut the gap to 52-49 with 1:36 left.

The lead stood at 55-52 after Harper made the second of two foul shots with 0:58 remaining and Kyre' Hamer stole the ball on the following possession.  However, Hamer missed a three and Martez Cameron hit a pair of foul shots and the Camels could get no closer.

Campbell shot 33.9 percent (19-56) for the game and made just 4-of-20 (.200) from 3-point range.  Morgan State hit 6-of-13 threes (.642) and 13-of-22 (.591) from the line and finished with a 41-34 edge on the boards.

Neither team shot well from the field in the opening half as the teams went into the dressing room tied at 24.  Clemons led all scorers with 10 first-half points and added five steals, but the Camels shot just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.  Morgan State made 9-of-25 shots (.360) in the first period.

Campbell returns to action Tuesday in a 7:00 p.m. (CST) start at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.