Winthrop pulls away to Big South men’s hoops win over Camels

by Dunn Area Sports Staff | Jan 4, 2020 | Campbell, News & Features

Trey Spencer drives for the Camels on Saturday against Winthrop.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/Paul Burgett)

BUIES CREEK — Chandler Vaudrin scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dealt out seven assists to lead Winthrop to an 87-72 Big South Conference men’s basketball win over Campbell on Saturday at Gore Arena.

D.J. Burns Jr. added 15 points off the bench and Josh Ferguson chipped in 12 for the Eagles (8-7, 2-0 BSC), who won their fourth straight game.

Jordan Whitfield scored a career-high 15 points for Campbell (9-5, 0-2), which has lost consecutive games for the first time this season. Ja’Cor Nelson (14), Cedric Henderson, Jr. (13) and LaDarius Knight (10) also hit double figures for the Camels, who shot 51 percent from the floor, but committed 18 turnovers.

Winthrop, which won at 18th-ranked Saint Mary’s earlier this year, shot 58.5 percent (31-53) from the field and made 8-of-16 threes against a Campbell team that entered the contest ranked seventh in the nation in defensive 3-point field goal percentage (.260) and 15th in turnover margin (plus 5.4).

The Eagles shot 58 percent from the floor in the opening half and took a 48-38 lead into the dressing room. Campbell shot 60 percent from the field in the first period, but committed nine turnovers, which led to 11 Winthrop points. Burns had 10 points before the break for Winthrop, while Nelson came off the bench to score 10 first-half points for the Camels.

Winthrop used a 10-2 run midway through the opening half to build a double-digit edge and led by as many as 15 (48-33) when Kyle Zunic completed a 3-point play with 1:49 remaining.

Henderson fed Gensler on a backdoor cut, then made a pull-up jumper to cut the gap to 54-48 with 15:39 left. The Eagles again stretched the advantage to 12 (60-48) on Vaudrin’s steal and dunk.

Carralero’s three and two free throws by Whitfield brought CU within 60-53 with 10:53 remaining, but Vaudrin, Ferguson and Hunter Hale made triples in an 8-0 run and the Eagles led by as many as 19 down the stretch.

Campbell begins a two-game road stretch at UNC Asheville on at 6 p.m.

(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)