BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Campbell plays its final men’s basketball game at 55-year old Carter Gym on Monday (8:15 p.m.) against East Tennessee State. With the opening of the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center and Gilbert Craig Gore Arena scheduled for next fall, the Fighting Camels will end nearly a six-decade run in “cozy” Carter (capacity 947) on Monday.
In addition, Monday’s contest marks the final home playing appearance for two Fighting Camel seniors – Jake Wohlfeil and Reggie Bishop, who rank fifth and seventh, respectively, among the school’s career 3-point field goals made leaders and have played key roles in the program’s resurgence. For the first time since 1996-98, Campbell has posted double-figure wins totals in 3-straight years.
A 6-foot-3 guard from Gadsden, Ala., Bishop has played in 112 career games (4th all-time in Campbell’s Division I era). He is one of only two Camels (with Jonathan Rodriguez) to start all 26 games this season. Bishop entered year a career 73 percent shooter from the line, but has made 81 percent of his attempts from the stripe this season. He has 43 double-figure scoring outings in his career, including a career-best 19 this year.
Bishop stands seventh among school career leaders in 3s made (129) and in 3-point field goal attempts (354)... He is averaging a career-high 12.3 points to rate 20th among A-Sun scoring leaders. In addition, he ranks fifth among A-Sun leaders in 3-point field goal percentage (.408) and 3-pointers made per game (2.38).
A 6-foot-4 guard from San Diego, Calif., Wohlfeil is averaging a career-best 10.2 points per game and shooting 41 percent (62-151) from 3-point range in 23 games (19 starts). In 10 games against A-Sun competition, he is contributing 14.1 points (18th in A-Sun) and 3.55 threes per game (2nd in the league), while connecting on 48.8 percent of his treys (1st) plus 88.9 percent of his free throws (2nd).
In his first 10 games of the year, Wohlfeil averaged 6.3 points and shot 32 percent (18-56) from long range. Overall, he stands 3rd among A-Sun leaders in 3FG/game (2.7), 4th in 3-point accuracy (.411) and 28th in scoring (10.2). He already ranks 5th among CU career leaders in 3-pointers made (169) and attempted (450), and has scored in double digits 29 times in his career, including 12 occasions as a senior.
Campbell (10-16, 5-8) has lost four-straight games following Thursday’s 79-58 setback against USC Upstate. Jonathan Rodriguez led CU with 17 points and 14 rebounds, his 15th double-double of the year. ETSU (16-12, 9-5) has lost 3 of its last 4 conference games, including a 96-70 setback Thursday at Gardner-Webb. The Bucs defeated Tennessee Tech Saturday (88-80) at home in the ESPN Bracket Busters.
Campbell is 7-7 at home this year, 3-4 vs, A-Sun opponents in Carter Gym. ETSU is 4-8 on the road, including a 3-3 record at A-Sun foes.
Camel sophomore Jonathan Rodriguez leads the A-Sun and ranks 16th nationally in scoring (21.2). He has scored in double figures in 34-straight games and has already set school records for free throws made (176) and attempted (231) in a season.
Last month at Johnson City, Travis Strong scored 10 of his 16 points in the last 3:05 to lead ETSU to a 74-69 win. The Camels led by 11 with 11:28 remaining before the Bucs went on a 20-7 run. The lead changed five times in the last 6:24 of the contest. Strong broke a 64-all tie with a 22-foot triple from the top of the key with 3:05 to go in ETSU’s fifth-straight win over the Camels since the Bucs joined the A-Sun in 2005-06.
Strong finished with 16 points, while Courtney Pigram led ETSU with 23. Jonathan Rodriguez led CU with 25 points. Kyle Vejraska chipped in 16, Jake Wohlfeil 15 (5-7 threes) and Reggie Bishop 11.
Home to Campbell basketball games since 1953, Carter Gym has the second-smallest capacity (947) home court among NCAA Division I men’s basketball members, behind only the Charleston Southern Fieldhouse (790).
The brick and concrete structure is named for the family of textile executive Howard Carter and was dedicated on Feb. 20, 1953.
Some of the most famous names in basketball history, including John Wooden, Dean Smith, Bob Cousy, Pete and Press Maravich and Michael Jordan, have passed through the doors of Carter as instructors at the Campbell Basketball School. Founded in 1956 by former Campbell coach Fred McCall and former Wake Forest coach “Bones” McKinney, the Campbell Basketball School is the nation’s oldest summer basketball camp in continuous operation.
The Camels are searching for their first-ever victory against ETSU (0-8 all-time, 0-5 since the Bucs joined the league in 2005-06). Campbell owns a 0-2 record vs. the Bucs all-time at Carter Gym.
As a team, East Tennessee State leads the league in turnover margin (plus-2.54), while ranking 2nd among A-Sun schools in scoring (78.1), field goal percentage (.451), 3-point percentage (.361), free throw percentage (.723) and steals (9.04).
ETSU junior guard Courtney Pigram, the A-Sun pre-season player of the year, ranks 10th among league scoring leaders (15.6), 9th in assists (3.32), 15th in steals (1.39) and 8th in free throw percentage (.765). Junior transfer forward Kevin Tiggs stands 9th among league leaders in scoring (15.8), 16th in rebounding (5.6), 3rd in field goal percentage (.562), 7th in steals (1.68), 6th in free throw accuracy (.788) and 2nd in offensive rebounds (2.93).
After playing the Bucs to 14- and 8-point losses in 2005-06, Campbell fell by 24 and 30 points last year. ETSU's 74-69 win over Campbell in January was the closest margin of victory between the schools since ETSU joined the A-Sun.
Fifth-year ETSU head coach Murry Bartow is the son of former Memphis, UCLA and UAB head coach Gene Bartow. He was a graduate assistant at Indiana under Bob Knight and later an assistant to his father before taking over head duties at UAB.
Following Monday’s game, Campbell concludes the regular season with a two-game trip to Nashville, Tenn., starting Thursday at league leader Belmont.
Courtesy: GoCamels.com