Jordan Whitfield led Campbell with 12 points on Thursday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
BUIES CREEK — High Point closed the game on a 15-3 run and defeated Campbell 62-57 in a Big South Conference men’s basketball contest Thursday night at Gore Arena.
John-Michael Wright scored 23 of his game-high 30 points in the final period for the Panthers (6-16, 3-6 Big South), who shot 56 percent in the second half.
Jordan Whitfield (12) and Cory Gensler (10) led the Camels (11-10, 2-7).
A freshman from Fayetteville, Wright hit all seven of his 3-pointers in the second half and finished 11-of-19 from the field, including 8-of-11 beyond the arc. Jamal Wright added 10 points off the bench for High Point, which shot 44 percent from the floor on the evening.
Campbell finished 20-of-53 from the field (.377), 6-of-23 beyond the arc (.261) and 11-of-15 (.733) from the stripe.
Cedric Henderson, Jr. scored on a layup with 7:25 to play to give the Camels a 54-47 lead. Wright knocked down three triples in the game-closing run for the Panthers, who made four of their last five shots.
Bryant Randleman’s off-balance 17-foot jumper at the end of the shot clock gave High Point a 60-57 edge with 15.1 seconds to play. Campbell had a chance to tie, but Whitfield’s pull-up three missed with 10 seconds to play and Jamal Wright hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 6.2 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Campbell scored the game’s first nine points and jumped to a 21-5 lead in the first 10:23 of play. High Point missed its first eight shots, made just 33 percent (9-27) of its attempts in the opening period and committed 8 first-half turnovers that the Camels turned into 11 points.
CU shot 54 percent from the floor (13-24) and had 10 assists on 13 first-half field goals to grab a 38-23 lead at the break.
The Camels return to action Saturday in a 4:30 p.m. tipoff at USC Upstate.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
Austin McCullough plays defense for the Camels in Gore Arena.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
CU’s Cedric Henderson Jr. tallies two points in a 62-57 setback.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)
