A nip-and-tuck battle for much of the night went the way of the visiting Camels as Campbell defeated the FGCU men's basketball team 51-46 on Saturday evening at Alico Arena. The game featured nine lead changes and six ties including 41-41 with 6:18 remaining in regulation.
The Eagles (2-7) will take on Georgia Southern on Sunday (5 PM) in the finale of the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic. The defending Big South regular-season champion Camels (5-2) will take on North Dakota at Noon.
Redshirt sophomore Malik Hardy led all scorers with 13 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds – both career highs as well. Junior Jalen Warren added 10 points and five rebounds, while junior Justus Rainwater had nine points and seven rebounds to lead the Eagles.
Campbell was led by Cedric Henderson (seven rebounds) and Trey Spencer (six rebounds) who each had 10 points.
"I thought we had effort tonight, I thought we competed tonight and I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win the game," said head coach Michael Fly. "Their press slowed us down and obviously we are at our best when we're running and playing fast. I thought multiple times tonight we slowed down and got bogged down because of that. We held them to 38 percent shooting; normally when you hold a team to that, out-rebound them and get to the free throw line more you win the game – we just had a tough night shooting and couldn't convert on some key plays."
The Eagles led 26-25 at the break thanks to a jumper by sophomore Calen Catto and a triple by Hardy. In the final 2:16 of play.
In the second half, the Camels were able to go ahead early building out a five point lead for much of the first 10 minutes of the half. The Eagles were able to briefly retake the lead by a point, 39-38, with 8:12 to go after a Catto free throw.
After Campbell retook the lead on a pair of Henderson lay ups, a three-point play by Warren knotted the score at 41 each at the 6:18 mark.
Campbell then used a 8-to-0 run to take the largest lead of the game before five consecutive free throws by sophomore Zach Scott pulled the Eagles within three with seven seconds to go.
FGCU fouled on the ensuing possession with Austin McCullough hitting a pair of free throws putting Campbell back up 51-46. The Eagles were able to get a look at a three-pointer just after that, but it was off the mark allowing time to expire.
The Eagles were able to hold a 40-to-34 advantage on the glass, but struggled from the floor hitting just 12-of-55 field goals (22%). Defensively, FGCU was able to hold Campbell to 38 percent shooting (18-of-47). The tough shooting night for the Eagles negated a plus-10 advantage in free throws where they converted 19-of-22.
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