Saturday, February 20, 2010

BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Campbell celebrated Senior Night at Gore Arena in style on Friday with a 79-57 victory over East Tennessee State that sent the Camels back into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Campbell (18-9, 13-5) jumped to a 13-3 lead and held a double-digit advantage for the final 32:50 of play while extending its winning streak to a season-best six games in the last home appearance for Jonathan Rodriguez, Kyle Vejraska, William Kossangue and Miles Taylor. The advantage reached 33 points (76-43) with 4:05 remaining before head coach Robbie Laing emptied his bench.

Sophomore Lorne Merthie hit 5 three pointers and scored a game-high 19 points. Taylor added 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting, while Junard Hartley scored 10, dealt 5 assists and made a career-best 7 steals during the CSS-TV/A-Sun Game of the Week.

"I really don't have any explanation for nights like these," said head coach Robbie Laing. "But you don't have this kind of success unless your guys are connected and playing for each other. We got after it with our full court pressure, and we're running our offense better than any time this year, better than any time in my 7 years here."

Rodriguez, who entered the game ranked 4th in the league in scoring (17.9), finished with 9 points, but dealt 4 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds. Kossangue added 9 points and 2 assists in 19 minutes.