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CHARLESTON, S.C. – Troy Harper hit career highs with 26 points and nine rebounds and Campbell withstood a late Charleston Southern rally to earn a 74-72 victory Saturday at the CSU Field House.

Campbell (12-15, 5-11) won its fourth-straight game, after building a 17-point lead in the second half and making 19 more free throws than the hosts.

Leading by three after Chris Clemons made 1-of-2 from the line, the Camels fouled Armel Potter with 2.8 seconds to go.  The freshman made the first shot; then missed the second.  After the ball was batted around twice, it fell to Raemond Robinson, but his open two footer bounced off the front of the rim as the final horn sounded.

Harper hit 7-of-13 from the floor, 3-of-6 threes, and 9-of-12 from the line to help spoil the final home game for Charleston Southern seniors Aaron Wheeler, Jabbar Washington and Reuben King.  Clemons added 14 points, while Kyre' Hamer chipped in 11 and Shane Whitfield eight for the Camels, who shot 51 percent from the floor and made 24-of-32 (.750) free throws.

Robinson led all scorers with 27 points, including 7-of-15 threes.  Wheeler added 17 and nine rebounds, while King had 14 points and 10 boards for Charleston Southern (9-19, 5-12), which dropped its third straight and eighth in the last nine outings.

With film and television star Bill Murray in attendance, the Camels led for the final 30:06 of play.  CU extended a 12-point halftime edge to 17 (51-34) when Harper spun in the lane for a bank shot with 17:59 to play.

The Camel edge was 67-56 when Hamer broke CSU's full-court press with a long pass to Whitfield, who went in for an uncontested dunk with 4:29 to play.  However, Robinson hit seventh three just 15 seconds later.

After Clemons made two from the line to push the margin to 69-59 with 3:08 to go, the Bucs outscored Campbell 8-1 to trim the gap to 70-67 as King had six points – four on tip-ins – in the spurt.  However, CSU was unable to complete the comeback, thanks in part two 2-of-9 free throw shooting in the final period, including a pair of missed front ends of 1-and-1 attempts.

"Our guys fought really hard all night," said Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan, whose team won its previous two outings by a total of 74 points.  "We could have been a little more poised down against their pressure.  It was a feverish ending and didn't feel quite as good as it should have.  But any win you can get on the road is a good one. They come in all shapes and sizes."

Campbell made 12 of its first 20 shots and led 44-32 at the break. Harper knocked down 5-of-8 shots and 4-of-4 from the line and had 16 points before intermission.  He scored an old-fashioned 3-point play, and also hit all three free throws after being fouled in the shooting act beyond the arc.

Hamer made all of his first half attempts (3-of-3 from the field, 4-of-4 from the stripe) and added 11 off the bench.

Harper had eight points and Hamer six in a 16-3 run midway through the period that put the Camels in front 30-21.  Harper's stick back gave CU its largest lead (44-30) with 1:07 left in the half.

Charleston Southern shot just 40 percent from the floor, but stayed within reach by grabbing 24 offensive rebounds they turned into a 19-10 edge in second-chance points.  CSU also missed 8 of its 13 foul shots on the day.

A 6-foot-1 sophomore, Harper eclipsed his previous career highs of 25 points vs. the College of Charleston (Dec. 22) and six rebounds.

"Troy was really poised and hungry tonight, and we're getting contributions all over the place lately," said McGeehan.

Notable:

• Clemons became just the second freshman in Campbell's Division I era (since '77-78) to reach 500 points in a season.  The guard from Raleigh enters Thursday's home date vs. Radford in 5th place on the Big South freshman scoring charts, 37 behind Elijah Wilson of Coastal Carolina (537 in '13-14).
• The Camels ended a four-game slide against the Bucs in the series.  CSU finished its Big South home slate with just two wins at the CSU Field House (2-7), the nation's smallest capacity home facility (881) among 351 Division I members.
• Campbell improved to 8-13 all-time at the CSU Field House.  However, Saturday's triumph was CU's first at the "Buc Dome" since an 81-64 victory on Feb. 11, 1993.  CU is now 1-3 at the cozy arena since re-joining the Big South in 2011-12.
• The Camels return home to Gore Arena to close out the regular season Thursday vs. Radford (7:00) and next Saturday against Winthrop (2:00).
• Campbell will host the 2016 Big South Conference men's basketball championship tournament, Mar. 3-6 at Gore Arena.