BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell continues Big South Conference play Saturday with a 2 p.m. tip-off at UNC Asheville.  The game will air on ESPN+ with live audio coverage on The Varsity Network through GoCamels.com.
 
The Camels (6-9, 1-2) ended a 4-game losing streak Wednesday with a 63-58 victory over Gardner-Webb.  Junior forward Laurynas Vaistaras scored a career-high 13 points in his first career start and the Camels never trailed.
 
UNC Asheville (10-6, 2-1) is coming off a 76-72 win Wednesday at High Point.  Drew Pember scored 28 points, while Nick McMullen (15) and Tajion Jones (13, 14 rebounds) also hit double figures for the Bulldogs, who made 21-of-32 free throws.
 
NOTES:

• Campbell stands 1-5 in true road games this season, including a win Nov. 18 at Appalachian State.  UNC Asheville is 5-0 at Kimmel Arena.
• Fifth-year senior Ricky Clemons leads the Camels - and ranks 13th in the Big South Conference - with a 12.2 scoring average.  Anthony Dell'Orso (10.8) is the league's 2nd-leading freshman scorer (19th overall), while Joshua Lusane is 20th (10.7) among Big South scoring leaders.
• Asheville was picked to finish 3rd in the Big South Conference preseason poll.  Drew Pember was named preseason player of the year, while Tajion Jones was a 2nd-team preseason all-conference choice.
• A 6-foot-10 senior forward, Pember leads the Big South in rebounding (8.9) and blocks (2.6) and ranks 2nd in scoring (18.8).  Jones stands 7th among league scoring leaders (14.25), 2nd in FG% (.522) and first in 3FG% (.461).
• As a team, the Bulldogs lead the Big South in FG% (.485) and 3-point accuracy (.384).
• Four members of UNC Asheville's starting lineup began their careers at other Division I programs.  Drew Pember, the 2022 Big South defensive player of the year, played his first two seasons at Tennessee.  Fletcher Abee (The Citadel), Caleb Burgess (Hofstra) and Nick McMullen (Murray State) are in their first season with the Bulldogs.
• Saturday's game marks the 51st all-time between Campbell and UNC Asheville, dating to the 1967-68 season when both were members of the NAIA.  CU won 5 of the 8 meetings between the schools while the Camels were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference (1994-2011), but the Bulldogs have claimed 14 of 18 since Campbell re-joined the Big South in 2011-12.
• Asheville owns a 27-23 edge in the all-time series, but the Camels have won 3 of the last 5.
• In Campbell's first game against a Division I opponent at Gore Arena (and 2nd overall), Campbell defeated UNC Asheville 94-57 on Nov. 22, 2008.
• UNC Asheville alumni include New York Times best-selling authors Wiley Cash and Ann B. Ross. Former MLB infielder Ty Wigginton, who played for eight different teams from 2002-13 and was a 2010 all-star as a member of the Baltimore Orioles and Mike Shildt, who was named 2019 National League manager of the year after guiding the St. Louis Cardinals to a playoff berth, also played baseball at Asheville.
• Following Saturday's game, the Camels play next Wednesday (Jan. 11) at USC Upstate (7:00 p.m.).