Campbellsville University opened the Lou Cunningham Classic with an 88-64 win over Bluefield College on Friday in front of its first home crowd this season. Not only did the Tigers give the baseball team a reason to break out their keys in the final minute, but Nestor Colmenares and Joe Robinson excited the crowd with a pair of dunks each.
"I thought the student body really showed up tonight. At a small school like this, you have to have the student body and the other sports supporting each other, and we got that tonight," CU head coach Keith Adkins said. "I don't know if we've had a home opener like this in a while."
It took both teams most of the first half to get going in the game. Bluefield held its only lead at 3-0 after Omar Reed hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute for the Rams. Caleb Harris of Chicago came back with a 3-pointer and free throw a minute later to tie the game and take a 4-3 Tiger lead. Robinson chimed in shortly thereafter, scoring four-straight points to turn an 8-5 game into a 12-5 game, as the game slowly grew to a cumulative 20-point score by the 10 minute mark of the first half.
"I thought we came out a little bit too excited to play. I thought we got a little out of control on the defense end. We did some things we don't teach and some things we don't practice, but in the second half, we settled in and got back to what we do every day and things kind of took care of themselves."
One of the defensive miscues was fouls, as CU was called for 13 to Bluefield's seven in the first half, giving the Rams 15 tries at the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. The nearly two-to-one ratio was not liked by Adkins, who argued the foul count to the point of a technical foul at the end of the first half.
Despite opening the second half with a pair of free throws, Bluefield was unable to cut the Tiger lead any closer than seven points, 31-24. Shawn Savage came off the bench and shot 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the second period to finish with 14 points off the bench after going 1-of-4 in the first half.
"Shawn did a great job of shaking off the first half of pour shooting," Adkins said. "He came back and really changed the game with those threes."
Savage's three 3-pointers of the second half came within five minutes, helping to grow CU's lead to 25, 70-45, with just under 10 minutes to play.
Colmenares also had a big second half, scoring 12 points, to finish with 19 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Robinson also scored 19 and had six rebounds. Harris finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Jordan Benock had a silent 10 points and five rebounds. Jermaine Carter and T.J. Bishop each had three assists to lead CU.
The Tigers (3-0) host Mid-Continent University (2-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday in its first of three games against TranSouth Athletic Conference schools. It will be the final game of the Lou Cunningham Classic, as Lindsey Wilson College (2-1) will play Bluefield (1-3) at 2 p.m. Lindsey Wilson held off MCU, 69-66, in the tournament opener at 6 p.m. Friday.
PHOTO GALLERY
COMPLETE BOX SCORE
SHORT BOX SCORE
Bluefield College (1-3)
Edric Folden 4-12 2-2 11, Brain Daniels 1-4 0-0 2, Dmitry Zimin 0-1 0-0 0, Phillip Frazier 1-3 0-0 2, Alvin Board 0-2 0-0 0, Ted O'boute 0-0 0-3 0, Jonathon Dula 1-3 0-0 2, Carlton Shumake 1-4 1-2 3, Marcus Jackson 1-5 2-2 4, Borgia M'Bala 2-8 2-2 8, James Childress 0-0 0-0 0, Jewuan Wynn 5-5 1-3 11, Omar Reed 8-15 3-5 21. Totals 24-62 11-19 64
Campbellsville University (3-0)
T.J. Bishop 1-3 1-2 3,
Caleb Harris 2-10 6-7 11,
Shawn Savage 4-8 2-2 14,
Adrian Whelan 2-2 0-0 5, Jermaine Carter 0-4 1-2 1,
Jordan Benock 4-9 1-1 10,
Joe Robinson 8-11 3-5 19,
Brett Crittenden 1-1 1-2 3,
Jonas Bohm 1-2 1-2 3,
Nestor Colmenares 9-13 1-7 19. Totals 32-63 17-30 88
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| SCORE BY PERIODS |
1st |
2nd |
TOTAL |
| Bluefield College |
27 |
37 |
64 |
| Campbellsville University |
36 |
52 |
88 |
FG%: Bluefield College .387, Campbellsville University .508. 3-pt FG:Bluefield College 5-23 (Folden 1-4, Daniels 0-1, Zimin 0-1, Board 0-1, Dula 0-2, Shumake 0-1, Jackson 0-2, M'Bala 2-7, Reed 2-4), Campbellsville University 7-20 (Bishop 0-1, Harris 1-5, Savage 4-8, Whelan 1-1, Carter 0-1, Benock 1-4). Rebounds: Bluefield College 40 (O'boute 7, Reed 7), Campbellsville University 41 (Colmenares 11). Fouls Bluefield College 21, Campbellsville University 20. Fouled out: none. Technical: Campbellsville University Coach. Assists: Bluefield College 3 (Folden 2), Campbellsville University 12 (Bishop 3, Carter 3). Steals: Bluefield College 4 (Folden 2, Reed 2), Campbellsville University 9 (Harris 3). Blocked shots: Bluefield College 1 (Reed 1), Campbellsville University 1 (Colmenares 1). Turnovers: Bluefield College 24, Campbellsville University 16. Attendance: 627.
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