Box Score JACKSON, Tenn. -- First-year Tiger point guard
Cedric Henderson drained a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer to pull Campbellsville University past a No. 22 Union University, 68-66, Tuesday night. It's the third straight year the Tigers have taken down a higher-ranked Union on its home floor.
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"Our guys are excited and they should be, but we need to be humble in this win," said Keith Adkins, CU head coach. "We've done this three years in a row, and they (Union) came back and beat us the first two years on our court. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again in January. The only way we do that is to handle this with some humility."
Henderson led all scorers with 15 points and eight assists, including giving the Tigers' their first lead of the night, 7-6. After the Tigers gained the lead they held on for most of the first half. Union gained a 34-33 lead with two minutes left in the first half before
Justin Ennis secured a defensive rebound and popped a 3 on the other end to give Campbellsville a 38-35 lead at the break.
The second half was a different story, as Union scored the first five points and pulled ahead by eight, 49-41. The Bulldogs clung to its lead until inside the four-minute mark.
Dennis Harris pulled the Tigers back within one, 60-59, with a pair of free throws with 5:13 remaining.
Reggie Smith cleaned up the defensive glass and scored on the other end to put the Tigers back in front, 61-60. Union answered though, and maintained a one-possession lead until
Jordan Myers sank a 3 from the right side with a minute left to put the Tigers up 66-64. Skyler Vaden evened the score with a layup and the Bulldogs were looking to regain the lead after a missed 3 by Smith, when Henderson swiped the ball from Giosha Koguashvili with 15 seconds left to give CU the final shot.
The Tigers played the final two minutes without their tallest post players,
Jonas Bohm and
Dennis Harris, who both fouled out with under four minutes to play.
Bohm led the Tigers in scoring most of the game, posting 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Smith finished with 14 points, including four 3s. Ennis, Harris,
Malik Thomas scored eight, seven and seven points respectively, while Myers finished with five.
Vaden led Union with 13 points, followed by a double-double 12 points and 11 boards by Leventrice Gray. Antoine Hall had 10 points with eight each by David Lane, Anthony Freeman and Dani Marti.
Campbellsville (3-1) will open Mid-South Conference play Saturday, Nov. 19 against the University of Rio Grande. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT in Powell Athletic Center on the Campbellsville University campus. It will be the Tigers first home game of the season.
"It's going to be good to get back home and get started in Mid-South Conference play," Adkins said. "Rio is scratching and clawing for that first Mid-South Conference win, and we don't want to be that first one. We'll make sure we're motivated. I know our guys will be glad to be at home for once."
