BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Josh Slater hit a step back 3 from the right corner with 0.2 seconds left to lift Lipscomb over Campbell 60-59 Monday night in Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball action at the Pope Center/Gore Arena.
Slater, who was named A-Sun player of the week Monday after a 35-point performance in Saturday's 85-84 overtime win at East Tennessee State, finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for Lipscomb (12-10, 9-4), which has won 3 in a row since an 86-82 setback against Campbell on Jan. 21 at Nashville.
"In the end when it came down the stretch, they made one more play to win than we did," said Campbell head coach Robbie Laing. "We made a lot of nice plays all night long, but they had just one more and that was the difference."
Adnan Hodzic led Lipscomb with 24 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the line. Jordan Burgason finished with 9 points on 3-of-7 from 3-point distance as Lipscomb's top 3 scorers combined for 54 of the team's 60 points.
Jonathan Rodriguez, who gave the Camels a 59-57 lead with 11 seconds to play when he hit a pair of free throws, finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Lorne Merthie added 10 for the Camels (12-9, 7-5), who lost their third-straight game. Junard Hartley finished with 8 points and 8 assists, while Preston Dodson and Kyle Vejraska added 8 points each.
Rodriguez became the 101st player in NCAA Division I history, joining Luke Harangody of Notre Dame as the only two active, to reach 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. Rodriguez has scored 2001 points and grabbed 1003 boards in his 112-game career for the Camels.
Campbell took its largest lead of the game (9) when Merthie hit a 3 to put the Camels in front 45-36 with 12:52 remaining. However, the Bisons used a 10-4 run to pull within 49-46 on Hodzic's 3-point play with 8:15 to go.
Slater's jumper with 2:23 remaining gave Lipscomb its first lead of the second period (57-55) with 2:23 remaining. Junard Hartley missed in traffic, but the Camels answered by forcing Lipscomb into a shot clock violation with 1:11 to play.
Hartley's penetration and dish set up William Kossangue's bank shot to knot the score at 57-all with 47.3 seconds to play. Hodzic missed underneath and Rodriguez rebounded with 24 ticks left to give the Camels a last shot opportunity.
After Rodriguez's free throws put the Camels in front, Slater dribbled out of pressure and down the right side line before hitting a contested three for the winning margin.
Nine days after shooting 60 percent in the second half and making 33-of-38 free throws in their 86-82 victory at Lipscomb, Campbell hit just 8-of-14 from the stripe Monday night and shot 37.5 percent on the game.
Campbell lost despite holding the Bisons 20.2 points below their league-leading season average, winning the battle of the boards 40-37, and holding a plus-five edge in turnovers (15-10).
Campbell starts a two-game road trip to Florida Thursday in a 6:30 p.m. tip-off at Stetson.