BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Senior Trey Spencer led five Campbell players in double figures with 13 points and the Camels defeated UNC Asheville 78-69 Saturday at Gore Arena.
 
In the final home game for Spencer and fellow seniors Cory Gensler and Noah Saunders, Campbell (15-15, 6-12) shot 58 percent from the floor and never let Asheville get closer than seven over the final 25:12.
 
Fellow senior Cory Gensler added 10 points, while freshmen Joshua Lusane (12), Messiah Thompson (11) and Jesús Carralero (11) all hit double figures for CU, which knocked down 8-of-19 triples and hit 12-of-15 from the stripe.
 
Lavar Batts, Jr. led UNC Asheville (14-15, 8-10) with 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting.  DeVon Baker added 16 and LJ Thorpe 13 for the Bulldogs, who shot 54 percent on the day, but made just 3-of-10 threes and 12-of-20 (.600) from the free throw line.
 
After leading by nine at the break, Campbell extended the margin to 16 when Ricky Clemons scored on a backdoor feed from Lusane to give the Camels a 65-49 edge with 6:50 remaining.
 
Asheville chipped away and pulled with 70-63 on Batts' spinning move in the lane with 2:05 to play.  However, the Camels broke the Bulldog press and Cedric Henderson, Jr., dunked in transition; then hit both ends of a one-and-one with 1:04 remaining to extend the lead once again to double figures.
 
The Camels used a 21-4 run late in the first half to grab a 14-point lead.  Thompson's leaner in the lane pushed the margin to 38-24 with 1:15 to play before Asheville scored the final five points of the period.
 
Asheville made 50 percent of its shots (13-26) in the first half, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range, but missed five of its six free throws.  Spencer, Gensler and Carralero all scored eight first-half points for the Camels, who shot 56 percent (15-27) from the floor and made 6-of-11 threes (.545) before the break.
 
Campbell shot 61 percent (14-23) in the second half and hit 10-of-11 from the line in the final 20 minutes.  The Camels finished with a 27-22 edge on the boards and had a 17-12 lead in points off turnovers against a Bulldog unit that ranked fourth in the nation in turnover margin.
 
Campbell's bench out-scored the Asheville reserves 38-3, thanks in part to Carralero (5-6), Thompson (4-6) and Lusane (4-6), who combined to make 13-of-18 from the floor.  Lusane grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.  Spencer hit 5-of-7 shots, including 2-of-3 triples in 20 minutes, while Gensler made 4-of-7 shots from the floor in 37 minutes.  Neither committed a turnover against the Bulldog pressure defense.
 
Campbell will open play Tuesday in the first round of the Hercules Tires Big South Championship. The Camels will travel to the sixth seed with the winner advancing to Thursday's quarterfinal against third-seeded Gardner-Webb at Radford, Va.