Sunday, December 16, 2007

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Jonathan Rodriguez scored 23 points and Campbell won a see-saw battle with visiting Liberty 73-70 Saturday night at Carter Gym.

A sophomore forward, Rodriguez added 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double in the last eight games and canned 7-of-8 from the line. Kyle Vejraska scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, while Reggie Bishop tallied eight of his 10 in the final stanza for the Camels (3-6), who ended a three-game losing streak.

Julius Perkins came off the bench to add eight points - all in the second half - plus a season-best eight assists. Jake Wohlfeil chipped in eight and hit a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Alex McLean and B.J. Jenkins led Liberty (5-5) with 20 points each, while Anthony Smith added 12. McLean grabbed 11 rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line for the Flames, who saw their three-game win streak come to a close. TeeJay Bannister contributed eight points and eight assists.

The lead changed hands eight times in the second period and Vejraska's free throws with 6:39 to go put the Camels in front for good (58-56). The Flames led 52-46 on McLean’s foul shots with 10:27 remaining, but Campbell answered with a 19-7 flurry, capped by Bishop’s three from the left corner with 3:41 to play that gave CU a 65-59 advantage.

Liberty, however, chipped away at the gap and Jenkins’ trey from the right wing cut the margin to 71-70 with 29 seconds to play. The Camels had the ball with the shot clock off, but Wohlfeil took his eye off a pass and dropped the ball out of bounds.