BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb won their seventh consecutive game to split the season series against Campbell after hanging on for a 77-73 victory in double overtime. Lucas Steiber had the go-ahead driving layup with a minute to play and Julian Soumaoro converted a pair of free throws with seven seconds to play to seal the win.
The day started with the teams remaining close for most of the first half with the score at 11 each after 10 minutes. GWU went on to score the next 10 and hold a 31-30 advantage heading into the break.
Quest Aldridge had eight points down the stretch to keep GWU ahead.
Kareem Reid opened the scoring for the teams in the second half hitting on an and-one to push the GWU lead to 14, its largest of the night. The Camels cut into the deficit as they went on to tally 10 unanswered and bring the score to 34-30. The Runnin' Bulldogs went another scoring spurt to bring it back to a double-digit differential.
Campbell started to bring Gardner-Webb back within reach and tied the game after an Anthony Dell'Orso layup with 5:27 to go. GWU went back ahead a pair of times before CU tied it back both times. The Camels got their first lead of the game since the start of the first half after a pair of Ricky Clemons free throws with three minutes to play. Reid had a go-ahead bucket with 30 seconds left, but Dell'Orso tied it with 15 seconds to play.
In the first overtime, neither team was able to gain more than a two-point lead over the other. Ricky Clemons had another pair of clutch free throws in the final minute to gain an advantage. On the ensuing possession, GWU's
Ludovic Dufeal got fouled and was sent to the line. Dufeal hit on both despite GWU shooting less than 50% at the stripe before he took his shots.
During the second, Campbell got the first basket, but GWU responded with a five-point spurt to take a 73-70 lead at the halfway point in the period. Stieber hit on his driving layup from the left side with 1:19 to play after a pair of misses from the free throw line by Dell'Orso. Soumaoro was fouled and hit on both shots to ice the game and claim the win.
Aldridge led the team's four players in double figures with 16 with Reid right behind at 15.
DQ Nicholas finished with 13 and
Anthony Selden added 11. Reid finished with a double-double as well as he pulled down 12 boards including five off the offensive glass. Dufeal also had a strong night as he had seven rebounds to go along with five points and three blocks.
Gardner-Webb won the rebounding battle as they had 46 to Campbell's 32. GWU finished better from the floor than the Camels as well hit on 28-58 shots (48.3%) from the floor while CU hit on less than 40% of their attempts going 25-64 (39.1%). Campbell won the turnover battle 14-19 and had 21-13 points off turnovers margin.
With the win, Gardner-Webb is now at 10-4 in the Big South and sits in third place as they await the results from the other games around the league. They hold a half-game lead over Longwood and trial Radford by a game. The Runnin' Bulldogs play Winthrop at Paul Porter Arena on Wednesday for their next game. The game will be a black out as they look to sweep the season series against the Eagles.
