ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – For the second time in a just over a month, Campbell and Austin Peay will square off on a neutral floor. The Camels and Governors meet Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the first round of the St. Pete Shootout. Alabama State faces Liberty Friday at noon, with Saturday's final day starting at 12 p.m.
The Camels (5-5) are coming off a 82-76 loss Tuesday against The Citadel.
Chris Clemons scored 21 points,
Cory Gensler added 18 and
Andrew Eudy 12, plus 7 rebounds, but the Bulldogs made 12 more free throws (23-31) than the Camels attempted (8-11) to win their 7th-straight game.
Austin Peay (6-4) extended its win streak to 4 games Saturday in a 95-68 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Terry Taylor led the Govs with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. APSU shot 69 percent from the floor in the 2nd half to extend a 7-point lead at the break to as many as 30.
Since falling to Campbell, Austin Peay suffered an 85-82 OT setback at Ohio, then began its win stretch Nov. 29 with a 79-74 OT decision at Troy.
Last month at Montego Bay,
Chris Clemons and
Cory Gensler combined for 59 points and Campbell shot 61 percent in the second half to defeat Austin Peay 78-72 and claim the Rose Hall Division title in the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic. Clemons scored 34 points and Gensler added a career-high 25 for the Camels, who shot 12-of-24 from long range. Terry Taylor led Austin Peay with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Chris Clemons leads the nation in scoring (30.0 ppg) and has extended his double-figure scoring streak to 92 games, the longest among all active players and 4th-best in NCAA Division I history. He became the 68th player in D1 history to reach 2,500 career points last week and with 2,532 is only 25 shy of breaking the Big South Conference career scoring record set by Reggie Williams of VMI (2,556 from 2004-08).
Campbell and Austin Peay had not met in men's basketball until last month's game in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In a scheduling quirk, the Camels and Governors meet twice this season on neutral floors.
Campbell is now 4-0 vs. Ohio Valley Conference members under the direction of head coach
Kevin McGeehan (since 2013-14). CU swept a home-and-away series with SIU-Edwardsville (2014-2016, defeated UT-Martin in the 2017 CIT second round and topped Austin Peay 78-72 on Nov. 18.
