Austin McCullough of the Camels rises for a dunk at Stetson.
(Photo/Steve Simoneau)
DeLAND, FL — Ricky Clemons and Cedric Henderson, Jr. scored 14 points each and Campbell held off Stetson, 60-58, in a nonconference men’s basketball matchup Saturday at the Edmunds Center.
The Camels (5-1) never trailed, led by 18 at the break, then ultimately produced a game-winning defensive stop in the final 12 seconds to stretch their win streak to three games.
Rob Perry led Stetson (2-3) with 19 points – 17 in the second half – but the Hatters were unable to get a shot off in the last 12 seconds.
Campbell has secured its three wins away from home this season all with a final possession stand. Only nationally ranked Duke, which topped CU 67-56 two weeks ago, has defeated the preseason Big South Conference North Division favorites.
“I’m super happy to come out of here with a win,” said Campbell coach Kevin McGeehan. “Figuring out how to win without two important guys is a huge building block for our program and reaffirms that next guy up mentality. It was gutty.”
With starters Jordan Whitfield and Joshua Lusane out due to injury, Messiah Thompson made his first start of the season and responded with 12 points – all in the opening period – as the Camels led 38-20 at the break.
Stetson made 7 of its first 8 threes to open the second period and cut Campbell’s advantage to just one (44-43) on Christiaan Jones’ lay in with 9:11 to play. Henderson scored on a corner three on the next possession.
A senior from Memphis, TN, Henderson nailed a step-back three to put the Camels ahead 56-48 with 3:58 left. With just over two minutes remaining, Austin McCullough grabbed an offensive rebound and Henderson slammed home his final bucket of the day off Thompson’s assist to push the margin to 60-53 with 1:51 to play.
Perry scored on a running bank shot with 1:22 left and his second-chance 3-pointer brought the Hatters within 60-58 with 22.5 seconds to play.
Campbell turned the ball over against full court pressure and the Hatters called their final timeout with 17 seconds to play. With fouls to give, Thompson committed one with just over 11 seconds left. The Camel defense then hounded the Hatters, who were unable to get off a shot as time expired.
Clemons hit 6-of-8 shots for the Camels, who outscored the Hatters 32-14 in the paint and out-rebounded the hosts 30-25. McCullough finished with 8 points and a team-high 6 rebounds, while Jesus Carralero dealt 6 assists and made 3 steals. Henderson finished 6-of-13 from the field and scored Campbell’s final 7 points.
Perry and Chase Johnston (15 points) both made five 3-pointers, while Jones added 13 points for Stetson. Josh Smith pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Stetson made 12-of-26 threes (.462) overall, 9-of-14 (.643) in the second half and shot 42 percent overall. Campbell finished 24-of-50 from the field (.480) and 7-of-18 (.389) beyond the arc.
Campbell jumped to a 20-5 lead and stretched the margin to 18 (38-20) at the break. Thompson scored 12 first-half points, including a pair of threes – the last on the final possession.
The Camels held Stetson to just 28.6 percent (6-21) shooting in the opening period, including just 3-of-12 (.250) from 3-point distance. On the offensive end, the Camels shot 55 percent (16-29) from the floor and outscored the Hatters 24-4 in the paint before halftime.
Saturday’s game was the 38th in the series between the old Atlantic Sun rivals. The Camels have now won the last eight meetings, including all three since Campbell rejoined the Big South Conference in 2011-12.
Campbell returns home Tuesday to host Lancaster Bible College at 7 p.m.
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
