Jordan Whitfield drives for the Camels on Tuesday.
(Photo/Duncan Boone)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Cedric Henderson, Jr. scored a career-high 26 points and Campbell held off a Jacksonville rally Tuesday night to earn an 80-78 nonconference win at Swisher Gym.
Jordan Whitfield scored 17 points, Joshua Lusane added a career-high 15 and Gediminas Mokšeckas contributed 11 off the bench for the Camels (2-0), who led by as many as 21.
Dontarius James led JU (3-2) with 23 points, Mo Arnold added 17, Tyreese Davis 13 and Bryce Workman scored 11, and a game-high 9 rebounds, for the Dolphins, who rallied to take a 65-63 lead with 6:09 remaining, but could not hang on.
Campbell shot 54.4 percent (31-57) from the floor, made 7-of-19 threes (.368) and 11-of-18 (.611) from the line on the night. Jacksonville shot 47 percent from the field (26-55), made 8-of-21 from long range (.381) and 18-of-25 (.720) from the stripe.
The Dolphins finished with a 37-26 edge on the boards and an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points, but Campbell converted 14 JU miscues into a 16-7 margin in points off turnovers.
Jacksonville used a 12-2 burst early in the second half to cut what was once a 21-point Camel lead to single digits; then a 14-2 run capped by James’ bucket put the Dolphins back in front (65-63) with 6:09 to play.
Henderson made 1-of-2 from the line and Mokseckas a pair from the stripe to put the Camels back in front. Henderson’s back-door slam off a Ricky Clemons assist continued an 11-2 flurry. JU pulled within 74-73 on James’ foul shots with 57 seconds to play, but Henderson answered with a pull-up jumper from the right baseline 11 seconds later.
After Diante Wood missed in the lane, Lusane hauled in the rebound, was fouled and made two from the line with 25 seconds to play for a five-point edge. Arnold’s three pulled JU within 76-78 with 17 seconds remaining, but Clemons and Whitfield both hit 1-of-2 from the line in the last 7.7 seconds to seal the victory. Arnold’s runner from just over half court bounded off the rim at the buzzer.
Whitfield surpassed his previous career high (25 points vs. Presbyterian last February) by hitting 11-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-5 beyond the arc. Whitfield made 7-of-11 from the floor and Lusane 6-of-10. Mokseckas came off the bench to score in double figures for the second-straight game and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Jacksonville jumped to an early 9-0 lead, but the Camels made 8 of their next 9 shots and answered with a 20-3 run. A second burst, this time a 23-4 flurry followed and CU led 43-21 on Whitfield’s triple with 4:55 to play in the stanza.
The Camels led by as many as 21 in the opening period and held a 49-32 advantage at the break. Henderson (15), Whitfield (14) and Lusane (11) combined for 40 points on 17-of-24 shooting before intermission as the Camels made 67.7 percent (21-31) of their attempts in the span.
Campbell continues play in the Dolphin Classic today (Wednesday, December 9) at 2:30 p.m. against New Orleans, which defeated Florida National, 74-57, on Tuesday afternoon. The Camels conclude the trip Thursday in a 1 p.m. start against FNU.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
