Box Score Box Score
BUIES CREEK, NC--After building a seven-point lead over Campbell midway through the second half, Winthrop got outscored 20-4 over a six minute stretch and lost 67-58 on the road Thursday night in a Big South Conference contest.
The loss was the second in a row for the Eagles and dropped Winthrop to 10-16 overall and below .500 in the league at 7-8. With the win the Fighting Camels swept the season series and now has won nine of their last 10 games over Winthrop. Campbell improves to 17-11 overall and 11-5 in the conference.
Despite shooting just 32.8 percent for the game (20-610 and connecting on 4 of 22 from behind the 3-point arc, Winthrop was able to build a 47-40 lead in the second half with 9:57 left in the game after outscoring Campbell 23-10 coming out of the halftime break. Campbell led 30-24 at intermission thanks to a 52 percent shooting performance on 12 of 23 FGs. Campbell, the nation's fifth best field goal shooting team, shot 57 percent for the game as it connected on 24 of 42 shots overall and was 6 of 15 from the three.
Winthrop was able stay within striking distance despite its poor shooting by dominating the glass for much of the game, especially on the offensive end where the Eagles had a 15-4 advantage on second chance points.
George Valentine led all rebounders in the game with 10 as the Eagles won the battle of the boards 39-30.
Three players reached double figures for Winthrop with
Andre Jones leading the way with 19, including 14 in the second half.
Reggie Middleton scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half while
Matt Morgan had his fourth straight game in twin digits as he finished with 11.
Just as he did in the win at Winthrop back on Jan. 17, Campbell senior guard Lorne Merthie played a big role in Campbell's comeback from the seven-point deficit. He scored eight of his team's nine points to give the Fighting Camels a 49-49 tie with 6:04 left to play. He hit two of his game-high four treys during that stretch. When Campbell had finished its run, it had a 60-51 lead with 3 minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the game. Winthrop could get no closer than six points in the final three minutes at 62-56 following a free throw by Jones and again at 64-58 when Middleton converted two of three free throws.
The Fighting Camels had four players in double figures. In addition to Merthie's 14, freshman point guard Trey Freeman scored 12, Eric Griffin added 11 and Darren White finished with 10.
Winthrop will return home this Saturday to face Coastal Carolina at 4 p.m.
