BUIES CREEK, N.C. – A 17-0 run early in the second
half propelled Troy State to an 88-81 Atlantic Sun men's basketball
win over Campbell on Wednesday night at Carter Gym.
Ben Fletcher led the Trojans (5-3, 2-1 A-Sun) with 24 points,
including 6-of-10 three-point shots. Lacedrick Pettway added 16
points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-of-4 treys), while Robert Rushing had
14 points and six assists. Lamayn Wilson, who entered the game as
the A-Sun's leading scorer at over 20 points per game, added 11
points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Adam Fellers scored a season-high 25 points, including 6
three-point field goals for the Camels (2-6, 0-3), who dropped
their fifth-straight outing. Freshman Dominique Klein came off the
bench to add a season-best 14 points (6-7 from the floor), while
Tarick Johnson scored 14 (12 in the first half) and Bobby Jones
added 10.
Fellers moved into 13th place on the all-time
Campbell scoring list and now has 1258 points in 91 career games.
He notched his fourth 20-plus point outing in eight games this
year.
After the teams played to a 50-50 deadlock at halftime,
Campbell took its largest lead of the game at five points. Threes
from Brooks Lee and Fellers, plus a follow shot by Jones gave
Campbell at 58-53 edge with 17:36 remaining. However, CU went
scoreless over the next 6:23 and Troy reeled off 17 unanswered
points.
Pettway and Fletcher each scored five points in the decisive
rally that was capped by Herbert Evans' trey from the right wing
with 11:45 to play that gave the Trojans a 70-58 advantage.
TSU led by as many as 13 points, but the Camels cut the gap to
82-76 on Klein's triple from the key that ended a 10-3 Camel rally
with 2:33 to play. After Donnie Pemberton missed two free throws,
Fellers fired long on a trey attempt that could have cut the gap to
three. Campbell was unable to narrow the margin to fewer than six
points and Troy hit 6-of-10 foul shots in the last 1:25 to seal the
victory.
Troy State shot 55 percent (32-58) from the floor and 59
percent (13-22) from three-point range on the night. The Trojans
made 61 percent (20-33) of their shots in the first half. Campbell
made 49 percent of its attempts from the floor (30-61) and canned a
season-high 13 three-pointers (in 29 tries). Troy State held a
34-29 edge on the glass.
The Trojans improved to 8-0 all-time vs. the Camels, but six
of Troy State's victories in the series have come by seven, or
fewer, points.
The Camels return to action on Friday in a 9:00 p.m. tip-off
against Coastal Carolina at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.