Box Score CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- Campbellsville University, ranked No. 22 in the NAIA, used an early second-half surge to pull past St. Catharine College and run away with a 69-53 Mid-South Conference win Saturday.
After a 6-0 Campbellsville lead to start the game, St. Catharine (7-7, 3-3 MSC) took the lead, 9-8, on a fast break dunk by DeShawn Mitchell. That was the first of five lead changes in the opening 20 minutes. The Patriots stretched their lead to five, 29-24, with less than three minutes to play, but
Jordan Myers pulled the Tigers within a point at the half, 29-28, with a pair of free throws.
The 4-0 Campbellsville run to end the first half was a spark for the second half. After a quick basket by St. Catharine to start the second period, Campbellsville posted an 11-0 run. The offensive swing began with a
Justin Ennis 3-pointer to tie the game 31-31 with 17:40 remaining. It was one of three 3-pointers in the game for Ennis, who led all scorers with 19 points.
"We didn't give them any easy buckets in the second half," said CU head coach Keith Adkins. "We kept them off the offensive glass in the first half, and that (defensive rebounding) was our No. 1 goal, but they were getting some run outs and easy dunks where we didn't get our defense back and get set. That was an easy adjustment to make at halftime. The other thing is we weren't making shots."
The Tigers made adjustments in both areas, out rebounding SCC 15-12 off the Patriots' glass in the second period, while allowing only 8-of-31 shooting from the floor (25.8 percent).
Campbellsville went on to outscore St. Catharine 23-7 in the first 10 minutes of the half to go up 51-36 on a 3-pointer by
Reggie Smith. The 15-point lead was the Tigers' largest of the night before knocking down 4-of-4 free throws in the final two minutes. The Tigers shot 14-of-28 in the second half, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
Cedric Henderson followed Ennis' lead with 12 points, eight assists and six steals for the Tigers, while Smith finished with 11 points. St. Catharine was led by Travis Wilkins' 11 points and 10 apiece from Delonte Taylor and Kevin Kornegay.
Campbellsville (13-5, 2-4 MSC) moves into a tie for seventh place in the MSC but is only two games back of second-place Lindsey Wilson College. The Tigers will host Lindsey Wilson (14-4, 5-1 MSC) Thursday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on WLCU 88.7 FM and televised by WLCU-TV (Comcast Channel 10). Both broadcasts can be found online at wlcufm.com and Campbellsville.edu/wlcutv.
