BUIES CREEK – Gardner-Webb stormed back from a double figures second-half deficit to force overtime and captured a clutch, 82-80 road win over Campbell Wednesday night in Big South men's basketball action.

David Efianayi tied his career-high with 31 points, scoring 26 of those markers in the second half and overtime to key the win. The Orlando, Fla., junior made five free throws in the final 28 seconds of overtime to seal the win. Efianayi made 11-of-18 from the floor and 7-of-9 at the charity stripe to lead four men in double figures for the Runnin' Bulldogs (7-8, 2-0 Big South).

Liam O'Reilly added 15 points and Jaheam Cornwall and DJ Laster each scored 13 to pace the Gardner-Webb comeback.

Gardner-Webb fell behind by three points early in the overtime, but came back once again. The Runnin' Bulldogs took their first lead of the game on a Patrick Zeck bucket with 1:30 left in the overtime period, part of a 6-0 run that saw Gardner-Webb lead 79-76 after a defensive stop and a pair of David Efianayi free throws with 28.0 seconds to go.

Efianayi collected a steal and made one free throw with 20.1 seconds remaining to put Gardner-Webb up 80-76 and, after the Fighting Camels (6-8, 0-2 Big South) cut the lead back to 80-78, Efianayi connected on two more free throws with 10.1 seconds left for an 82-78 margin.

Shane Whitfield's layup at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.

The Runnin' Bulldogs trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half, but trimmed the lead to nine by halftime. Campbell pushed its lead back to double figures several times during the second half and led by 12 with 8:20 left on a layup by Ja'Cor Nelson.

Gardner-Webb shook free from there, storming on a 12-0 run to tie the score, 65-65, on a Zeck layup at the 3:48 mark. The spurt lasted just 2:35 and saw the Runnin' Bulldogs make six-straight field goals.

Big South Preseason Player of the Year Chris Clemons drove for a layup to put Campbell back on top 67-65 and, after a Zeck free throw cut the lead to one, Campbell's Marcus Burk stepped to the line for a pair of charity shots and a 69-66 Campbell advantage with 1:44 to play.

Gardner-Webb got a pair of O'Reilly free throws to trim the lead to 69-68 with 36.7 seconds left, but sent Clemons to the line after a foul on the inbounds play. Clemons made both for a 71-68 edge, but Cornwall drained a corner three with 25.1 seconds left to the score.

Clemons had a chance to win the game, but missed a driving layup with four seconds left. Gardner-Webb rebounded the miss and O'Reilly found himself open just inside the three-point line on the other end after a hit-ahead pass, but his rushed runner was off the mark at the buzzer.

The Fighting Camels (7-7, 1-1 Big South) built a 23-9 lead through 10 minutes in the first half, making 5-of-7 from long range to start the game on fire.

Campbell began to pull away near the first media timeout, going on a 6-0 run to lead 13-5 with 15:17 left in the first half. GWU cooled off considerably after a solid first few possessions, missing five field goals in a row as part of a scoring drought that lasted nearly three minutes.

The Fighting Camels found success with backdoor cuts to the basket midway through the half, pushing the lead to 23-9 by the 12:04 mark. Campbell made 5-of-6 field goals during that stretch to build a comfortable lead.

Gardner-Webb made its own run with under eight to play in the half, going on a 13-2 run to cut the Campbell lead to 33-28 with 3:48 on the first half game clock. 

O'Reilly made a pair of threes during the run and his assist to DJ Laster for a triple capped the run.

Gardner-Webb went scoreless over the final 2:35 of the half, however, and Campbell built its lead back to 39-30 by halftime.

The Fighting Camels outscored GWU by seven points at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes, and took advantage of 10 Gardner-Webb turnovers, scoring 11 points directly off of those missteps.

Campbell started the second half by making 4-of-6 from the floor and went up 50-36 on a pair of free throws by Moga Laddo with 17:18 left in the game. Gardner-Webb eventually trimmed the lead back to single digits with just under 15 minutes left, but both teams went cold – with the scoreboard showing 52-43 for nearly three minutes.

The Runnin' Bulldogs went without a field goal for 3:50, unable to take advantage of a Campbell scoring drought that lasted more than four minutes (4:07).

Cornwall finally broke the cold spell with his second triple of the game, pulling GWU within 52-47 with 11:20 left.

Campbell was able to get on the board via transition, going on a 9-2 run to seize momentum once again. A turnover led to a layup, followed by two more layups to force a Gardner-Webb timeout with 8:18 left in the game.

Head coach Tim Craft urged his team to buckle down defensively once again, and the timeout speech worked, as Gardner-Webb began its 12-0 run that turned the game's tide.

Efianayi previously scored 31 points in a win over Howard last season in Indianapolis.

Gardner-Webb shot 47.5 percent for the game and knocked down 16-of-22 from the free throw line (72.7 percent) in the win. In addition to the double figures scorers, Zeck finished with seven points, 12 rebounds and a blocked shot in the post and point guard Christian Turner dished off five assists with only one turnover.

The Runnin' Bulldogs also held a 42-31 edge on the backboards and scored 42 points in the paint.

Campbell cooled off after its red-hot start, shooting 44.1 percent for the game (26-of-59) and 8-of-25 from long range (32.0 percent). That included a cool, 2-of-12 effort from three-point range in the second half (16.7 percent).

Burk (20 points) and Clemons (18 points) led the way for Campbell, with Andrew Eudy (17 points) and Whitfield (10 points) also reaching double figures.

Gardner-Webb will remain on the road for its next test, traveling to Farmville, Va., on Saturday for an afternoon game at Longwood.