CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Campbell is headed back to the Big South final!
 
Anthony Dell'Orso scored 23 points, including a floater with 1.3 seconds left, to lead the seventh-seeded Camels to a 72-71 win over third seed Radford Saturday in the Hercules Tires Big South Championship at Bojangles' Coliseum.
 
The Camels (16-17) will meet top seed UNC Asheville (26-7) in Sunday's 1 p.m. final that will air on ESPN2.  Asheville defeated USC Upstate 66-62 in Saturday's first semifinal.
 
In a game that included 14 lead changes and six ties, the Big South freshman of the year provided the winning margin.  After Radford's Shaquan Jules made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 21.5 seconds to go, the Camels called time out to set up for the final shot.
 
Fifth-year senior Ricky Clemons drove to the hoop, but lost the ball in the lane.  Dell'Orso, a native of Melbourne, Australia, collected the loose ball and sank a 10-foot floater for the decisive basket.
 
Radford had one final chance, but the Camels batted a long pass away to secure their third trip to the title game since 2017.
 
Clemons, a fifth-year senior, added 13 points, while Jay Pal and Juan Reyna chipped in 10 for the Camels, who shot 55 percent from the floor, made 7-of-17 threes (.412) and 11-of-14 from the line (.786).  Laurynas Vaistaras and Joshua Lusane added eight points apiece.
 
Campbell finished with just seven turnovers.  Despite being out-rebounded 31-22, the Camels outscored the taller Highlanders 40-20 in the paint, while the teams both had 17 second-chance points.
 
DaQuan Smith led Radford (19-14) with 22 points, but only scored three in the second half – all from the free throw line with 1:53 to go.  Smith hit 5-of-6 threes in the first half but was held to just one attempt beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.  Bryan Antoine added 13 points, while Josiah Jeffers chipped in nine.
 
The Highlanders finished 24-of-54 (.444) from the field, made 11-of-20 (.55) threes and 12-of-16 (.75) from the stripe, but committed eight of their 10 turnovers in the second period.
 
Radford led 44-37 at halftime, but the Camels surged in front thanks to a 9-0 run capped by Pal's putback slam that gave CU a 59-55 lead with 6:24 to play.  The Highlanders regained the lead on Antoine's triple from the key with 4:30 to go, but Clemons made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 3:56 left to swing the advantage back to CU.
 
Pal scored underneath and Clemons drove the right baseline for a reverse layup and a 67-64 lead with 2:25 to go.  However, Clemons bumped Smith on a 3-point attempt with 1:53 to play and the Murray State transfer made all three from the line to tie the score at 67.
 
Dell'Orso answered with an and-one on the other end before Jeffers brought Radford within 70-69 on a pullup jumper from the left baseline.  Dell'Orso's wing three was on target, but just short, and the Highlanders hauled in the rebound with a chance to go back in front. 
 
Jules was fouled on an inbound play and made both ends of the 1-and-1 before the winning stretch.
 
On the day, Dell'Orso was 7-of-16 from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 from the line.  Through three tournament games, the Australian is averaging 19.3 points and has made 19-of-20 foul shots.
 
Clemons did not miss from the floor (5-of-5 field goals, including a three), while Lusane and Vaistaras combined to go 7-of-11 from the field at the center position.
 
With Clemons and Pal limited to just 10 first half minutes each due to foul trouble, Radford took a 44-37 lead at the break.  Smith hit 5-of-6 three and scored 19 first-half points for the Highlanders, who knocked down 8-of-15 beyond the arc and had more offensive rebounds (15) than CU's total (12).
 
Campbell shot 58 percent in the first period and made 5-of-10 threes.  Reyna came off the bench to score 10 points, while Dell'Orso added nine.  Pal, who averaged 21 points in his first two tourney contests, was limited to 2 points after picking up his second foul with 9:42 remaining.
 
Radford hit 41.7 percent of its shots before the break but rang up 13 second-chance points.
 
NOTES:

• The Camels defeated second-seeded Longwood 81-68 in Friday's quarterfinal before downing third-seeded Radford Saturday.  CU defeated 10th seed Presbyterian 68-63 in Wednesday's opening round.
• CU is the first seventh seed to reach the Big South title game since the Camels and Chris Clemons advanced to the 2017 final where they lost to top seed Winthrop.
• Campbell owns a 20-19 record all-time in Big South tourney play, 6-1 in the semifinal round and 1-5 in the finals. Since returning to the Big South from the ASUN in 2011-12, Campbell stands 12-11 in league championship tournament play.
• Campbell has reached the Big South final 3 times in the last 7 years and seven times overall (1987, 1989, 1992, 1994, 2017, 2021, 2023).
• CU is undefeated against Radford in the Big South semis (1994, 2017, 2021, 2023).

 
2023 Hercules Tires Big South Championship (at Charlotte)
 
Wednesday, March 1 – First Round (ESPN+)
#9 Charleston Southern 72, #8 High Point 70
#7 Campbell 68, #10 Presbyterian 62
 
Friday, March 3 – Quarterfinals (ESPN+)
#1 UNC Asheville 75, Charleston Southern 66
#4 USC Upstate 77, #5 Gardner-Webb 76
Campbell 81, #2 Longwood 68
#3 Radford 78, #6 Winthrop 69
 
Saturday, March 4 – Semifinals (ESPN+)
UNC Asheville 66, USC Upstate 62
Campbell 72, Radford 71 (2:00)
 
Saturday, March 5 – Final (ESPN2)
Campbell vs. UNC Asheville (1:00)