SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Campbell shot a season-high 63.5 percent from the floor Saturday and posted an 80-71 win over USC Upstate at the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
The Camels (13-8, 6-4), who have won four of their last five contests, recorded the team's second-best shooting performance against a Big South Conference regular season foe.  CU made 14 of its first 20 shots (.700) in the second half and led by 19 (80-61) with 2:51 to play before the Spartans (10-12, 7-3) closed the gap.
 
"We really executed and there was a level of toughness down the stretch we needed defensively," said Campbell head coach Kevin McGeehan.  "This is not an easy place to play, it's tight, it's loud, and Upstate is a good team."
 
Jordan Whitfield scored 17 points to lead five Camels in double figures.  Jesus Carralero and Cedric Henderson, Jr. added 16 each, while both Ricky Clemons and Messiah Thompson finished with 12.
 
Whitfield connected on 4-of-6 threes and dealt five assists.  Carralero hit 7-of-10 from the floor, grabbed nine rebounds and dealt six assists.  Henderson finished 7-of-9 from the field and grabbed seven boards.  Thompson also dealt six assists for the Camels, who had 22 assists on 33 made shots.
 
Overall, Campbell hit 33-of-52 (.635) from the field, including 10-of-21 (.476) from 3-point distance, and finished with a 31-17 advantage on the glass.
 
Bryson Mozone led the Spartans with 23 points and six rebounds. Jordan Gainey added 14 points for Upstate, which entered the game as co-leader in the South Division of the Big South race.  CU is in second place in the Big South's North Division.
 
The Camels led by 10 at halftime and by double digits for nearly the final 14 minutes of the second period until Dalvin White's three drew the Spartans within nine (80-71) with just 29 seconds remaining.
 
Upstate – which entered the contest ranked 15th in the country in 3-point field goal accuracy (.386) – finished 8-of-19 (.421) beyond the arc Saturday and shot 51.8 percent (29-56) overall.
 
Campbell shot 67 percent (18-27) overall and made 6-of-10 threes in the first period to take a 45-35 lead at the break.  Clemons scored 10 first-half points for the Camels, who put together runs of 13-2 and 12-2 in the stanza.
 
Upstate shot 56 percent (15-27), including 4-of-9 from 3-point range, in the opening period.
 
Campbell returns home Wednesday to host Gardner-Webb in a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.  Tickets are available at GoCamels.com/tickets.
 
NOTES

• Since Upstate joined the Big South in 2018-19, Campbell stands 5-1 against the Spartans.  Campbell swept the season series in '20-21.
• USC Upstate's G.B. Hodge Center has the smallest seating capacity (833) of all 358 NCAA Division I men's basketball members, just ahead of Charleston Southern's "Buc Dome" (881).
• Campbell's all-time best shooting performance in Big South regular season play came on Jan. 23, 2018, when the Camels hit 27-of-42 (.643) shots in a 94-85 win at Liberty.  Campbell's all-time record for single-game field goal accuracy is 74.5 against Allen on Feb. 16, 2016.