February 22, 2007
BOX SCORE
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Longwood University dropped an 88-80 men’s basketball road decision at Campbell University Thursday night in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The Lancers (9-21) battled back from a 25-point deficit with 8:03 remaining (80-55), outscoring the Camels (12-16) 25-8 over the final 7:50 but ran out of time at the end. Senior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute) led LU with a game-high double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Jonathan Rodriguez led CU with 25 points and eight rebounds. Longwood will close-out its 2006-07 season on Saturday, February 24, at Savannah State University in Georgia beginning at 2 p.m..
Longwood opened the game with a three-point field goal from junior Brandon Giles/Gaithersburg, Md. (Magruder) to lead 3-0 at 19:17. Campbell, however, answered with its own three-pointer just 17-seconds later en route to a 15-2 run to lead 15-5 at 13:51 as Rodriguez finished the run with the final five points. The Lancers fought back to within 27-22 at 6:14 as Morgan tallied six-straight points, and it was 31-24 after a jumper from Morgan at 4:59 before a phantom technical foul was assessed to the visiting bench with 4:26 left until halftime. The Camels converted the two free throws, followed by another three-pointer to extend the advantage to 36-24 just 10-seconds later en route to leading 43-36 at the intermission.
Longwood scored the first basket of the second half on a layup from senior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) at 18:14 (43-38). Campbell, though, made 14 of its first 18 shots from the field after the break, including 5-7 on three-pointers, to lead 80-55 with 8:03 remaining. During the streak of torrid shooting by the Camels, the same game official who whistled the seemingly unwarranted first-half technical, surprisingly removed three student-athletes not in uniform from the Lancer bench at 12:22 as the visiting team was returning to the floor after a timeout.
The Lancers refused to let the circumstances get the best of them and quickly ran-off nine consecutive points to close to 80-64 at 5:48. LU continued its momentum while extending the run to 19-4 to pull within 84-74 with 1:30 left on a pair of free throws by Giles. Longwood ran out of time, though, as Campbell’s 4-8 free throws in the final 1:13 was good enough to hang on for the win at home where the Camels are 11-3 this season.
Morgan finished with game-highs of 27 points (11-19 FG, 5-8 FT) and 11 rebounds for his team-best third double-double to lead Longwood, adding four assists. Sumter had 18 points and nine rebounds, just missing his third double-double, adding four rebounds and five steals. Giles added 10 points, a game-high six assists, and two steals for the Lancers. LU shot 47% (30-64) from the field, including 29% (6-21) on three-pointers, and 74% (14-19) at the free throw line.
Rodriguez finished with 25 points to lead Campbell, while Ledell Eackles added 13 points and six assists. Eric Smith had 12 points for the Camels. CU shot 53% (30-57) from the field, including 67% (16-24) in the second half, 40% (10-25) on three-pointers, and 67% (18-27) at the line.
It was the first-ever meeting in men’s basketball between Longwood and Campbell, and obviously, the first visit to CU’s Carter Gym (947) as well.
