Jan. 26, 2002
Box Score
BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Jonte' Edwards knocked down the 17-foot game winner with less than a minute to play and Campbell outscored Samford 7-0 in the last 3:46 as the Camels defeated Atlantic Sun co-leading Bulldogs, 56-53, in NCAA Division I-A basketball at Carter Gym.
Samford (11-9, 8-4 A-Sun) led 53-49 with 2:00 minutes remaining, but left Campbell (6-13, 4-8) life by not scoring for the last three and half minutes of the game. Campbell leading scorer Adam Fellers hit a three-pointer from NBA range with 2:15 remaining to bring the Camels to within one, 53-52, and Jonte' Edwards knocked down the 17-foot game winner with less than 36 seconds remaining. Fellers added a pair of free throws with nine seconds left, and a three-point attempt by Cornell Felton rimmed out at the buzzer.
Samford's 36 percent field goal shooting was its undoing, as the Bulldogs committed only nine turnovers to 17 assists. Campbell shot 42 percent from the field and also only committed nine miscues against 15 assists. The Camels outrebounded the Bulldogs 37 to 30, including 10 offensive rebounds. Samford grabbed nine offensive rebounds.
Chris Weaver scored 19 points to lead all scorers and grabbed six rebounds despite playing with flu-like symptoms. Corey Green joined Weaver in double figures with 13 points and also had six rebounds. Jon Mills also grabbed six boards but scored only two points. Fellers scored 15 to lead Campbell and Edwards added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
"We need to work through this. It's tough to win games when you shoot 36 percent and don't make shots when you get great looks," said Samford Head Coach Jimmy Tillette.
"I didn't think we started the game defending well in the post and they took advantage of that to lead us at halftime," Tillette continued. "Chris had a great game and played 37 minutes under-the-weather. Fellers made some shots from beyond the NBA line, and the last one he shot was dead in the hole.
"In the second half they were changing some defenses and we decided to just run our man offense and adjusted a bit to get some great looks. We had quality shots that just didn't go in. Unfortunately those empty possessions came late in the game and with a four-point lead.
"One thing that we didn't get was production off the bench. We got that early on in the year but have not gotten it in the last few games. We need more qualitative offensive play off the bench."
Campbell outscored Samford 19-5 off the bench, including 11 points from Dominique Klein. Bryan Boerjan scored all five of Samford's reserve points.
Samford never led in the first half, while the Camels' lead extended to as many as 10. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game, 35-33, on a three-pointer by Weaver with 15:50 left in the second half. Campbell regained the lead until the 4:53 mark of the game, when the Bulldogs scored on consecutive layups by Weaver and Ramelli to lead 53-49. Samford did not score again, while Campbell finished the game on a 7-0 run.
Samford travels to Atlanta to face Georgia State at 5 p.m. (CST) on Mon., Jan. 28. The Bulldogs defeated the Panthers 63-59 on Jan. 19 in Birmingham.
