CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – A three-game skid came to an end Saturday as Campbellsville University posted one of its strongest shooting performances of the season in an 85-57 win over Bluefield College.

The Tigers shot 54.4 percent from the field, including 11 3-pointers, in their first home game in nearly a month.

 

Both teams were in the bonus within the first seven minutes of the game in a quickly physical game, though the scoring was slow. Bluefield led 16-15 with eight minutes left in the first half, but the Tigers responded with a 23-10 run to close the half with a 39-25 lead.

Justin Ennis, who posted one of his top career games with 26 points and seven 3s, hit three in the final three minutes of the half. His back-to-back treys down the stretch secured CU's double-digit lead.

"Justin was really good, obviously. He has not played great coming out of the break," said CU head coach Keith Adkins. "I think he's put some undue pressure on himself. He didn't have a great game at Robert Morris and didn't have a great week of practice, but came out today and got some things turned around. If he can keep it there, we're going to be in great shape. His challenge from here on out is going to be consistent with that."

Leading the Tigers' offense was point guard Sean Scott, who made his home debut as the Tigers' point guard with nine assists.

"A lot of the difference today is that is the best Sean Scott has looked. He got banged up a little right out of the break in practice. Right now what you're seeing is only about a 75 or 80 percent version of him," Adkins said. "The 100 percent version is awfully good, and is going to get guys open shots. Jordan Myers, Justin Ennis and everyone else down the line are going to get open looks. It's time to step up and make those, and Justin and Jordan did that today."

Myers hit two 3s and followed Ennis' lead with 14 points, while Addison Smith scored 11.

Early in the second half, the Tigers used an 11-0 run to stretch its lead beyond 20 points, leading 54-32 with 16:19 remaining. The Rams managed to cut the Tigers' lead to 17 but CU closed the game by out-scoring Bluefield 18-7 and shooting 66.7 percent in the final 20 minutes.

"It's a big win for us, and we just need to build on it. As proud as I was to see us respond and be better defensively, I like the way we reacted when we got the big lead. We've been there before and got the big lead and let teams get back into the game, but when we got it tonight, we stuck with what we've been doing and we were able to build on it," Adkins said.

The 28-point win ends a string of double-digit losses by the Tigers to start the second semester. CU, now 4-4 in the Mid-South Conference, will return home Thursday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. EST and Saturday, Jan. 19 at 4 p.m. EST against top-ranked University of the Cumberlands and Cumberland University, respectively,.

"We need (the win). Let's face it, I don't care who it's against. I don't care where the standings are, we came out of the break and just haven't played well. Somewhere between Georgetown in the first week of December and where we stand today, we lost a little bit of the edge. We lost a competitiveness that we have to have. We lost a defensive presence that we have to have. Somewhere along the way, we haven't been very good," Adkins said.

"Hopefully we can get refocused at this point with a couple of home games coming up. The timing's right.  I told our guys before the game, 'We talk about playing with urgency and desperation, well I've got news for you, the times are matched right now. We are desperate now.' You're looking at a really, really big log-jam in the middle of this conference, and it could go either way. You could go up, or you could go down in a hurry in this league. We are in the midst of some adversity, and we better play with some urgency and take care of business."


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