BOILING SPRINGS – Campbell put four men in double figures and shot 53.6 percent in the second half to top Gardner-Webb, 70-61, Monday in the first game of a two-game Big South series.
The Camels (5-5, 1-2 Big South) snapped a five-game losing streak in the process. They got 15 points – all in the first half – from Messiah Thompson, 11 points off the bench from Ricky Clemons and 10 points each from Austin McCullough and Jordan Whitfield.
Leading scorer Cedric Henderson, Jr., scored eight points for the Camels.
Gardner-Webb got 18 points from
Jacob Falko and a career-best 16 points from freshman
Anthony Selden on Monday.
D'Maurian Williams scored 12 points in his first start, but All-Big South guard
Jaheam Cornwall didn't score until five minute remained in the game – and attempted just one shot in the opening half. Cornwall finished with seven points and three assists for the game.
The Runnin' Bulldogs built seven point leads twice in the first half, going on a 10-0 run to take a 15-8 lead on a Selden three with 15:09 in the first half.
After a pair of Williams free throws gave Gardner-Webb a 24-17 lead with 7:41 left, Campbell responded with a 12-4 mini run over the next five minutes to take a 32-28 lead on a driving baseline bucket by Henderson, Jr., with 47.3 seconds to play.
Falko responded with a driving layup of his own with 24 seconds left, but the Camels took a 32-30 lead into the break.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Falko drove for a tying layup and Selden gave Gardner-Webb a 35-34 lead on another three-point bucket with 16:55 to go.
Campbell took control of the game from there, with Ricky Clemons' jumper igniting a 13-2 run that would put the Camels up 47-37 with 12:51 to play. Gardner-Webb couldn't get consistent stops on defense and shots weren't falling at a high enough rate to make a big dent in the lead – and Campbell eventually pushed the margin to 61-47 on a Milos Stajcic trey with 6:57 on the game clock.
Not deterred, Cornwall found his groove and teamed up with Falko to fuel a 14-3 run over the next five minutes. Falko's pair of free throws with 96 seconds left cut the Campbell lead to 64-61 and a defensive stop gave Gardner-Webb a chance to tie or pull within one with less than a minute to play.
A hook by
Ludovic Dufeal was high off the mark with 50.2 seconds left and Campbell secured the rebound. Gardner-Webb chose to play defense and did a good job, but Whitfield was able to beat the shot clock with a runner in the lane for a 66-61 edge with 22.5 seconds to go.
Campbell had fouls to give, and used up three to run off some clock on Gardner-Webb's next offensive chance. An open look from three wouldn't fall for Williams, however, and Campbell corralled the rebound with 9.2 seconds to go. Whitfield made both free throws and – after a final GWU miss – made two more free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining. That capped a personal 6-0 run to end the game.
Campbell shot 47.3 percent for the game (26-of-55), but drained 10-of-22 from deep (45.5 percent) and 8-of-10 free throws. The Camels also assisted on 16 of 26 buckets and had only eight turnovers.
Forward Jesus Carralero finished with seven points, six assists and five rebounds in a strong floor game for Campbell.
Gardner-Webb shot 46.2 percent on Monday (24-of-52), but was relatively cold from deep – making just 8-of-27 threes (29.6 percent). The Runnin' Bulldogs weren't effective getting to the rim either, attempting – and making – five free throws.
The two teams will hit the Paul Porter Arena court again on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 pm, with Fabian Fuentes and Jerry Dunn calling the action on ESPN+.
