RADFORD, Va. — Chris Clemons hit a 30-footer at the buzzer to lift Campbell to a 68-67 win over Big South Conference leader Radford on Wednesday night at the Dedmon Center.
For the fourth time in his storied career — and third time in the last two seasons — the Big South’s all-time leading scorer launched a game-winning shot.
Campbell (12-9, 5-2) trailed by 15 with 9:05 remaining and 67-60 when Carlik Jones hit both ends of a one-and-one with 41.5 seconds to play. The Highlanders (15-7, 7-1) missed four free throws in the last 28 seconds to give the Camels a chance.
After Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28 seconds to go, Andrew Eudy knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the margin to 67-63 with 19.2 seconds left. A career 87 percent free throw shooter, Caleb Tanner missed a front end opportunity and Clemons drove into the paint, was fouled and made a pair to cut the gap to 67-65 with 9.7 to play.
Travis Fields had a chance to seal the victory, but missed both ends of a two-shot opportunity with 6.2 seconds left to set up Clemons’ second game-winning shot over the Highlanders in just over a year.
“It was incredible,” said Campbell coach Kevin McGeehan. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been a part of one like that when so many times it looked like it wasn’t going our way. It says a lot about our guys. We beat the best team in the conference on the road. There’s a lot of the season to go, but it does help our confidence going forward. I’m so proud of our team.”
The nation’s leading scorer (28.3), Clemons followed a season-low 14 points Saturday at Hampton with 39 on Wednesday. It was his second 30-plus point effort in a Camel win at the Dedmon Center, including a 36-point outing two years ago in a 78-61 victory.
Clemons scored 28 in the second half and made 11-of-22 overall, including eight-of-15 threes, plus nine-of-11 from the line. Cory Gensler added nine points (three-of-five triples), while Eudy, who averaged 17.2 in CU’s first six league contests, finished with seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Jones led Radford with 18 points and seven assists, while Ed Polite, Jr., finished with 13 points and 11 boards, becoming just the fourth player in Big South history to reach 1,000 career rebounds with his first of the night. Mawdo Sallah and Devonnte Holland chipped in 12 apiece for the Highlanders, who outscored the Camels by a 32-12 margin in the paint.
Campbell knocked down 14-of-32 beyond the arc and won for the fifth time in the last six games against Radford despite shooting just 38 percent overall. The Camels committed only two turnovers in the final period and completed their second rally from at least 14 points in the last four games to improve to 3-1 on the road in conference play.
The defending Big South champ and pre-season favorite, Radford suffered its first loss of the season at home (9-1) and saw its eight-game win streak halted after shooting 46 percent from the floor, but only six-of-20 beyond the arc and nine-of-15 (4-9 in the final half) from the stripe.
Clemons’ three capped a 15-4 Camel burst around halftime and gave the Camels a 36-31 lead with 16:08 to play. The Highlanders hit seven of their next eight shots in an 18-1 run and led 54-39 when Tanner connected on a triple from the right side with 9:05 remaining.
Radford earned November road wins at Notre Dame and Texas and was ranked No.-24 in this week’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll after getting off to its best start ever in league play. The Highlanders jumped to an 11-3 lead Wednesday, but Clemons hit a pair of threes to pull the Camels within 15-14 with 10:55 to play in the opening half.
CU went 8:48 without a field goal, but only trailed 25-18 before Gensler knocked down a pair of threes to cut the Highlander lead to 27-24 at the break.
Clemons moved by Otis Birdsong of Houston (2,832 points from 1973-77) into 15th place on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring list with 2,836 points in 118 career outings. He extended his double-figure scoring streak to 103 games, the longest among all active players and fourth-best in Division I history.
After winning four of their last five outings (including three on the road), the Camels begin a string of three home dates in their next four outings Saturday against Longwood at 2 p.m.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
