CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Three-point land was wide open for senior guard Justin Ennis all night, as the Houston, Texas native rolled off 26 points to lead Campbellsville University to a 75-58 victory over Indiana University Northwest in the Tigers home opener at Powell Athletic Center on Monday night.

Ennis was 8-of-11 from 3-point range, posting the best single-game shooting percentage (.727) from beyond the arc in Tiger basketball history with more than 10 3-point attempts. His eight 3s are tied for fourth on the all-time, single-game list for 3-pointers made.

The senior leader wasn't only the star on offense, but was a steady force on defense, collecting two steals and five defensive (six total) rebounds.

"Hopefully the perimeter guys will follow his lead, because you can't carry the bulk of the offensive load and be the best defender in every single game," said CU head coach Keith Adkins. "We're going to have to have guys to step up offensively and take some pressure off of him, because I'm sure the opponents we have coming up aren't just going to give him 11 open looks from the 3. We've got to find a bunch of guys that can take some of the load defensively."

Ennis opened the scoring right away, scoring his first 3 only three seconds after the opening tip. The visiting RedHawks hung with the Tigers through the first half, keeping the game within a six- to eight-point margin. The Tigers' didn't break their lead into double digits until Ennis' fifth 3-pointer of the game, 37-26, with 1:13 to play in the opening half.

The Tigers' opened the second half on a 9-0 run, stretching their run to 14-0 over a five minute period beginning in the final two minutes before halftime. Bryton Taylor extended CU's lead to 20 points for the first time, 50-30, by knocking down 1-of-2 free throws after a flagrant foul. CU's largest lead of the night was 28 after a Malik Thomas basket with just under five minutes to play.

CU was led in rebounding by Jordan Myers, who had a double-double 15 points and 11 rebounds. Addison Smith scored nine for the Tigers, while Thomas and Darius Clement each had seven.

IU Northwest was led in scoring by 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Brandon Grubl and Cody Artuso. Brandon Reyes had nine.

The win closes CU's short non-conference season before Campbellsville opens Mid-South Conference play.

"It's a win. It's early still. We've got a long way to go, there's no question about that. We don't have much time to get to where we're going because of the short non-conference season and being thrust right into Mid-South Conference play on Thursday night," Adkins said. "One of the things we'll take from this is we can break it down and figure what all we need to work on, and trust me, there's plenty of it. We'll draw some positives out of here and hopefully be ready to play on Thursday."

CU (2-0) will open its Mid-South Conference schedule Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. EST as it plays host to the ninth-ranked University of Pikeville in Powell Athletic Center. The women will play UPike at 6 p.m.

Thursday's games will be televised live on WLCU-TV 4 (Comcast Channel 10) and on WLCU 88.7 FM beginning at 5:45 p.m. For online audio, visit www.wlcufm.com, or for video, visit www.campbellsville.edu/live-streaming.

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