Triton graduate Nick Parker is shown on Senior Day with (from left) Campbell coach Kevin McGeehan, dad, Scotty; mom, Paula; and sister, Leanna.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
BUIES CREEK — Chris Clemons scored 23 points and tied his career high with nine assists to lead Campbell to a 72-56 Big South Conference men’s basketball win over Presbyterian on Saturday at Gore Arena.
The Camels (16-14, 10-8) secured the fourth seed in next week’s Big South tournament and will face fifth seed Liberty (18-13, 9-9) in Thursday’s 9 p.m. quarterfinal at Kimmel Arena on the campus of UNC Asheville.
Damontez Oliver came off the bench to add 13 points for Campbell, which knocked down 12 three-pointers, while senior Mogga Lado added nine points and five boards in his final home game.
Senior walk-on Nick Parker, an alumnus of Triton, had eight points in his first career start for the Camels, who shot 51 percent from the field.
J.C. Younger led Presbyterian (11-20, 4-14) with 16 points and nine rebounds. Reggie Dillard added 11 points and Davon Bell contributed 10, plus eight assists.
Campbell never trailed and used an early 17-3 run to open a 27-10 lead. The Camels held a 35-25 edge at the break after shooting 45 percent, while making made 8-of-16 triples in the opening half.
Younger’s wing three capped an 8-2 Presbyterian flurry and the Blue Hose cut the margin to 41-35 with 15:42 to play, but Oliver answered with a triple from the top of the key and Clemons found Lado for a slam.
Campbell extended the margin to as many as 17 down the stretch as the Camels hit 15-of-26 (.577) shots in the final period and finished with only six turnovers on the day.
The nation’s fourth-leading scorer (24.7), Clemons extended his NCAA Division I-leading streak to 78 consecutive double-figure games and logged his 19th game of 20 or more points this season. He made 4-of-7 threes Saturday and moved past Nick Barbour (2,121 points from 2008-12) of High Point into sixth place on the Big South’s all-time scoring list (2,124).
The Camels claimed their sixth consecutive win over Presbyterian, which finished shooting 36 percent from the floor and made 7-of-29 threes (.241).
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
High scoring and high flying, Chris Clemons goes in for a dunk.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
CU senior Shane Whitfield gets his balance on a shot attempt.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
Senior Mogga Lado goes up for a slam. (Dunn Area Photo/Paul Burgett)
Nick Parker at the point. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
Nick Parker (10) at the defensive end on Saturday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
Nick Parker does a postgame interview with Chris Hemeyer.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
