Campbellsville University abandoned its man-to-man defense in the second half Tuesday to beat Shawnee State University, 62-58, on the road in Portsmouth, Ohio.
"We're definitely not happy with the way we played. We know we're better, but give Shawnee State some credit. They're young and have some really nice freshman," CU head coach Keith Adkins said. "It says something about the character of your basketball team to go on the road and get a win when you don't play well."
CU led 31-28 at halftime but Shawnee took the lead midway through the second half, prompting a switch from the Tigers' usual man defense to a zone. Prior to the switch, Shawnee State was 3-of-9 from the perimeter in the first half, but the Tigers shut down the Bears (1-of-15) in the second half.
The defensive shift helped CU swing the game back to its favor, taking a 10-point lead. Shawnee hit a shot as time expired to turn a six-point win into four points, Adkins said.
CU spread its scoring around in the win, as Bowling Green native Shawn Savage hit 3-of-4 treys and led the Tigers with 11 points. Nestor Colmenares and Joe Robinson each scored 10 points, while Jermaine Carter had nine and Brett Crittenden had eight. T.J. Bishop, who was 4-of-4 from the free throw line, had seven points. Jordan Benock finished with five and Leon Hart had two. Justin Vitatoe made his first appearance of the season, playing two minutes, after recovering from a preseason injury.
Tyler Boyles and Tyler Morgan had 18 and 17 points, respectively, for Shawnee State.
"We were definitely not at our best tonight. I think there was a little bit of a hangover from playing those two ranked games last week, and even though we talked about avoiding looking forward to Friday's game with Robert Morris, I think that played into the equation as well," Adkins said.
CU (6-1) will play the top-ranked team in the NAIA, Robert Morris, in the Mid-South Conference Challenge on Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 1450 AM in Campbellsville and on Comcast Cable Channel 22. A live feed will also be available online at WTCOSports.com.
The Tigers will meet Shawnee State again in Warsaw, Ky., Nov. 18.
