Nick Parker (10) will be among the Campbell seniors playing their last home game of the regular season on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Cortez Mitchell scored 20 points in his final regular season home game and Charleston Southern held off a late Campbell rally to claim a 72-68 Big South Conference men’s basketball victory Thursday night at the Buc Dome.
Jordan Jones added 18 points, including a key put-back with 32 seconds to play for the Buccaneers (13-15, 8-9 Big South), who won for the sixth time in the last eight games. Christian Keeling added 16 points and sealed the win with two free throws to 5.4 seconds to play.
Chris Clemons led Campbell (15-14, 9-8) with 24 points, including 10-of-11 from the line, while Andrew Eudy added 18 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Marcus Burk chipped in 13 points for the Camels, who shot just 38 percent from the field.
Charleston Southern led by 11 at the half and by nine (65-56) after Keeling hit a pull-up 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining. The Camels whittled the lead to 67-65 on Clemons’ drive to the bucket, then got the initial stop, but Jones’ offensive rebound and basket pushed the gap back to four (69-65).
Cory Gensler and Clemons both had looks at 3-pointers on the following possession, but each bounded off the rim. Travis McConico hit the second of two foul shots with 11.5 seconds remaining before Clemons made all three from the line after McConico fouled him beyond the arc.
Charleston Southern shot 46 percent from the floor, 54 percent (13-24) in the second half, and made just enough free throws (14-21) to hold off the visitors. Campbell knocked down 21-of-24 from the line (87.5 percent).
CSU closed the first half on an 8-0 run and led 35-24 at the break. Mitchell had 14 first-half points and Keeling nine for the Bucs, who limited Campbell to just 31 percent shooting in the opening period and to only one field goal over the last nine minutes.
Tied for fourth place in the Big South standings, the Camels conclude the regular season Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Presbyterian (11-19, 4-13) at Gore Arena on the Buies Creek campus. A victory would clinch a first-round bye for the Camels in next week’s Big South Tournament.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
