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BOX SCORE (PDF)

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Campbell shot 58 percent in the second half and handed Winthrop its first Big South loss of the season Thursday with a 90-83 victory at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Chris Clemons (30) and Troy Harper (21) combined for 51 points, while Kyre' Hamer added 16 and D.J. Mason 10, plus a game-high 11 rebounds for the Camels (8-5, 2-1), who led by as many as 16 and held off a late Eagle charge.

Keon Johnson had 32 points - 27 in the second half - for Winthrop (9-4, 2-1), which saw its three-game win streak halted.  Roderick Perkins added 18 for the Eagles, who could not overcome 34.5 percent shooting in the opening period.

Clemons made 7-of-11 shots, 2-of-3 threes, and 10-of-11 from the floor in a 26-point final period for the Camels, who saw Winthrop trim the gap to as little as five in the final minute, but made two defensive stops in the last 27 seconds.  Harper scored 13 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting and finished with his third 20-point game of the year.  Hamer, who is averaging 16 points over the last four games, hit that average while pulling down seven rebounds.  Mason registered his fourth double-double of the year and second in three Big South outings.

A freshman guard from Raleigh, Clemons scored 13-straight Campbell points and gave the Camels a 59-45 lead with 12:13 to play.  Harper's baseline move and two-handed jam pushed the edge to 65-49 with 10:18 to go.  However, Johnson's personal 8-0 run trimmed the margin to single figures (65-57) just 1:05 later.

Campbell extended the gap again to 13 on Hamer's bucket with 5:38 to play and led 83-70 after two Clemons free throws with 3:15 to go. After Hamer hit a leaner in the lane at the end of the shot clock with 51.8 seconds to play, Campbell led 88-78. 

Johnson gathered in a loose ball on the following possession and – while seated at the top of the key – found Jarad Scott open for a corner three.  The Camels turned the ball over on the next possession and Duby Okeke's offensive board and slam cut the gap to 88-83 with 33.6 to go.  But Hamer hit 2-of-4 from the stripe down the stretch.

Winthrop entered the game ranked 10th in the nation in free throws made.  However on Thursday, Campbell made as many from the stripe (24-of-31) as the Eagles attempted (15-of-24).

Overall, Campbell shot 53.7 percent from the floor (29-54), made 8-of-17 threes (.471) and converted 77 percent from the line to end a two-game losing streak.  Clemons, who entered the game as the country's seventh-leading freshman scorer, raised his average to 18.1 points per game after falling just one shy of his career high (31) set on Dec. 19 vs. The Citadel.

Harper, who is averaging 18.5 points over the last six outings, enjoyed his best shooting game (8-of-11) on the year.

Winthrop finished the day shooting 44.6 percent (29-65) from the field, made 10-of-28 (.357) triples and hit 62.5 percent from the stripe.  Winthrop held a slight 35-33 edge on the glass.

Campbell used an 11-3 run midway through the first half and led by as many as 12 before the break.  Harper scored 13 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a pair of 3-point plays, before sitting out the final 8:29 with two fouls.

The Camels led 36-27 at the break after shooting 50 percent from the floor, while holding Winthrop to just 34.5 percent from the field.

"We talked the last couple of days about who we are and doing what we do," said third-year Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan.  "We set out to get back to our basics of sharing the ball and playing together.  When everybody is feeding off each other, a lot of times we get more open looks on offense.  We cut hard and were incredibly unselfish today."

The Camels return to Gore Arena Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off vs. Presbyterian.