BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Solomon Yearby scored a season-high 17 points, 15 in the second half, to lead Campbell University to an 86-84 win over the University of Central Florida in Atlantic Sun men’s basketball action on Saturday at Carter Gym.
On Royal Ambassador Day, a standing-room only crowd saw Campbell shoot 62 percent from the floor in the second period and score 54 points following halftime to mark the club’s highest-scoring half of the year.
Jonte’ Edwards and Adam Fellers added 16 each for the Camels (8-16, 6-11), who won their second-straight game after defeating A-Sun co-leader Florida Atlantic on Thursday night.
Ray Abellard led UCF (13-10, 9-7) with 20 points, 14 in the first half. Joey Graham (18), Jason Thornton (13), Josh Bodden (12) and Stephen Graham (10) also reached double figures for the Golden Knights, who defeated the Camels 99-86 in overtime last month at Orlando.
UCF jumped to a 7-0 lead and held an 18-9 edge with 11:38 remaining in the opening period after Bodden’s bucket in the paint. Campbell answered with an 11-2 run to knot the score at 20. Tarick Johnson’s 17-foot jumper at the buzzer brought the Camels within 33-32 at halftime.
Brooks Lee’s three-pointer capped a 10-2 flurry and Campbell led 49-43 with 14:14 to play. But UCF rallied with an 11-3 run and led 62-57 with 7:18 to go after Joey Graham’s bucket.
Yearby’s three from the right wing with 4:58 remaining put Campbell on top for good (66-64). The junior from Mulga, Ala., added five assists, while hitting 4-of-5 field goals, 3-of-3 from 3-point range, and 6-of-8 free throws. Lee, who tops the A-Sun in assists average, dealt seven on Saturday.
Campbell hit 11-of-14 foul shots in the final 1:37 to hold off the Golden Knights. Fellers’ shots with 3.1 seconds to play gave the Camels an 86-81 advantage before Stephen Graham’s triple at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.
The Fighting Camels shot 49.1 percent (26-53) from the floor on the day and hit 8-of-18 (44 percent) threes. CU made 26-34 from the line (76.5 percent), while UCF went to the stripe only 15 times (9-15).
UCF made 52.4 percent of its shots (33-63), including 9-of-21 from long distance (.429). Campbell held a 35-30 advantage on the boards.
CU returns to action on Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. (CST) tip-off at league leader Troy State.