ROCK HILL, S.C. – Chase Claxton came off the bench to score 12 points and Big South leader Winthrop held off upset-minded Campbell 62-53 Thursday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 
In front of an ESPNU audience, the Camels (11-2, 2-9) battled the Eagles (17-7, 11-0) dead even for 35 minutes before Winthrop made enough plays and free throws to extend its winning streak to 13 games.
 
DJ Burns, Jr. added 11 points, Josh Ferguson and Micheal Anumba 10 each, while Chandler Vaudrin had eight rebounds and seven assists for Winthrop, which shot just 36 percent from the floor, but made six more free throws (15-23) than the Camels attempted (5-9).
 
Cory Gensler led Campbell with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks and Cedric Henderson, Jr., scored 10 points for the visitors, who shot 40 percent from the floor, but made only one field goal in the final 5:38.
 
Henderson scored on consecutive drives to the bucket to give the Camels a 47-44 lead with 6:44 remaining, but CU made just one of its final 12 from the field.  Winthrop pulled in front thanks to a 14-2 run and led by as many as 10 down the stretch.
 
Campbell wrapped an 18-2 run around halftime and took its largest lead (34-26) on Gensler's corner three with 17:16 remaining.
 
Winthrop, however, rallied, and knotted the score at 34 on Burns' turnaround jumper with 14:47 to play.  Jesús Carralero's short jumper pushed the Camel edge back to six (43-37) with 10:30 to go, but the Eagles again rallied and took the lead on Claxton's free throws with 8:12 remaining.
 
The Camels held the league's top scoring team (81.8 points per game) to their second-lowest output in Big South play.  Winthrop entered the contest averaging 9.4 threes per outing, but made only 5-of-21 (.238) beyond the arc.
 
The Eagles jumped to an 18-9 lead in the first 10:12, but Campbell closed the opening half on a 13-2 run and led 26-24 at the break.
 
Trey Spencer came off the bench to knock down a pair of three pointers in the last 1:08 of the stanza and give the Camels their first lead.
 
Campbell shot 50 percent in the first half (11-22), while limiting the Eagles to just 29 percent (10-34) shooting.  Winthrop had 10 offensive rebounds in the opening period, but only scored two second-chance points in the span.
 
The Camels return to action Saturday at home in a 4:30 p.m. start against Presbyterian before traveling to Longwood Monday (7:00 p.m.).