The last nine years have been rough in the Highway 55 rivalry for Campbellsville University, but the eighth-ranked Tigers started the new decade off strong Thursday, downing the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders, 66-61, in front of a packed Powell Athletic Center crowd. The win completed the first men's and women's basketball regular season sweep in the rivalry for CU since 2001.




"Any time you can sweep a really good opponent like Lindsey Wilson, especially both programs, is a noteworthy accomplishment," CU head coach Keith Adkins said. "You try not to add any more importance to one conference opponent than another, but the close proximity, the fans and the schools put a little more emphasis on these games."

Fans were called to paint the bleachers in dark maroon for the state-wide televised broadcast on Wazoo Sports, and responded, as the student section wore "Maroon the Rival" T-shirts given away at the door.

"The crowd was absolutely unbelievable. I think sometimes people underestimate the impact a good crowd can have a home game. We've proved time and time again we've got the best fan base, whether it be the community or the student body," Adkins said. "We didn't play very well. Without a great crowd, who knows how this game would have turned out."

 

JaVaughn Espritt throws one down.

Campbellsville led the first eight minutes of the game, stretching the lead out to 10-4 early, but the Blue Raiders went on a 19-2 run over the next five minutes for their largest lead of the night, 23-12. Two fouls early in the run put senior post player Nestor Colmenares on the bench for the Tigers, as Jordan Benock helped answer the run with a lay-up that sparked a 15-2 run by the Tigers. Brett Crittenden went on to secure a defensive rebound and hit two free throws with thee minutes left to tie it, 25-25, while JaVaughn Espritt capped CU's rally, 27-25, with a fast break layup off a pass from Shawn Savage.

The Raiders bounced back to stretch the lead out to three, but Espritt tipped in a shot with seconds left in the half to cut Lindsey Wilson's halftime lead to one, 30-29. Espritt had four offensive boards in the game and finished with a game-high nine total rebounds to go with his eight points.

"With Nestor on the bench after those two fouls, give the guys that played the rest of that half a lot of credit. I thought Brett Crittenden was huge, Jordan Benock made some big plays and JaVaughn Espritt held down the post," Adkins said.

 

T.J. Bishop led CU with 15 points.

The second half was a different story, as Espritt gave CU its first lead of the half, 38-37, on a dunk less than five minutes in. The next few minutes belonged to senior point guard T.J. Bishop. The Boynton Beach, Fla., native knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers with 13:30 to stretch CU's lead to nine, 46-37, and keep the Tigers on top for good.He went on to finish with four 3-pointers and 15 points in the game to go along with three assists and two steals. Colmenares had eight of his 14 points in the second half and seven of his nine rebounds.

Campbellsville simply out scored (37-31) and out rebounded (20-11) in the second half to pull of the rare sweep in the series. CU also had numerous second chances on offense thanks to 11 offensive rebounds and 25 personal fouls by the Blue Raiders.

"You can expect that type of game when Lindsey and Campbellsville get together. Our games aren't always the prettiest games. They're always physical. It always come down to the last five minutes and who makes plays and gets defensive stops," Adkins said. 

CU (21-6, 9-2) will carry its Mid-South Conference lead to St. Catharine College (19-8, 7-4) Saturday at 4 p.m. St. Catharine sits two games back of CU in the MSC standings with three games to play, while the Tigers are two wins away from a share of their first official MSC regular season championship.

BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

SHORT BOX
Lindsey Wilson College (13-14, 4-7)
Joshua Cherry 3-5 6-8 12, Kemo Duncan 1-4 0-0 2, Cornell Thomas 0-2 2-4 2, Andrija Tintor 5-8 5-5 15, Chase Spreen 0-3 0-0 0, Eric McPherson 1-5 4-4 7, Jeff Vories 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Diebler 0-1 0-0 0, Kalen Kimberland 8-10 1-1 19, Darren Ballou 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 19-40 20-24 61

Campbellsville University (21-6, 9-2 NAIA #5)
Justin Vitatoe 0-0 0-0 0, Nestor Colmenares 5-9 4-6 14, Jonas Bohm 1-1 0-0 2, Brett Crittenden 1-1 4-7 7, Leon Hart 1-1 2-2 4, Jordan Benock 1-4 5-6 7, Shawn Savage 0-3 1-2 1, T.J. Bishop 5-10 1-4 15, JaVaughn Espritt 4-8 0-3 8, Caleb Harris 3-11 2-2 8. Totals 21-48 19-32 66
 

SCORE BY PERIODS	1st	2nd	TOTAL
Lindsey Wilson College	30	31	61
Campbellsville University	29	37	66

FG%: Lindsey Wilson College .475, Campbellsville University .438. 3-pt FG:Lindsey Wilson College 3-10 (Cherry 0-1, Tintor 0-1, Spreen 0-2, McPherson 1-1, Diebler 0-1, Kimberland 2-3, Ballou 0-1), Campbellsville University 5-17 (Crittenden 1-1, Benock 0-2, Savage 0-3, Bishop 4-8, Harris 0-3). Rebounds: Lindsey Wilson College 28 (TEAM 5, Cherry 5), Campbellsville University 30 (Colmenares 9, Espritt 9). Fouls Lindsey Wilson College 25, Campbellsville University 19. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: Lindsey Wilson College 4 (Cherry 2), Campbellsville University 8 (Bishop 3, Harris 3). Steals: Lindsey Wilson College 4 (Cherry 1, Tintor 1, McPherson 1, Kimberland 1), Campbellsville University 7 (Benock 2, Bishop 2). Blocked shots: Lindsey Wilson College 2 (Duncan 1, Ballou 1), Campbellsville University 0. Turnovers: Lindsey Wilson College 16, Campbellsville University 9. Attendance: 1648.