ABILENE, TX — Jalone Friday scored 19 points, Payten Ricks had 18 and Abilene Christian defeated Campbell 83-68 Tuesday night at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats (8-1) continued their best start since moving to Division I status by shooting 56 percent on the night and finishing with a 24-10 advantage in points off turnovers. Jaren Lewis and Trey Lenox added 11 points each for Abilene Christian, which hit 61 percent of its second-half shot (14-23) and connected on 7-of-14 threes, while making 22-of-26 (.846) from the line.
Chris Clemons led Campbell (4-4) with 26 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the line. Andrew Eudy and Ja’Cor Nelson added 12 apiece for the Camels, who shot 49 percent from the floor (22-45) and outrebounded the taller Wildcats 30-21, but committed a season-high 22 turnovers.
After Clemons pull-up jumper tied the score at 22 with 7:19 to play in the first half, the Camels made seven turnovers in the last 6:20 and Abilene took a 36-28 lead at the break.
The Wildcats opened the second period on an 8-0 run and extended the lead to 19 (63-44) on Lewis’ bucket with 8:25 remaining. Campbell trimmed the margin to nine (68-59) on Nelson’s lay-in with 3:38 to go, but Abilene hit 8-of-8 from the line in the last 1:37 and the Camels drew no closer.
Clemons, who entered the game as the nation’s scoring leader (32.1 ppg), extended his double-figure scoring streak to 90 games, the longest among all active players and fifth-best in NCAA Division I history. He reached the 20-point barrier for the 70th time in 105 career outings.
The Camels take an 8-day break for final exams before hosting Central Penn on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)