BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For the second straight week, Campbellsville University scored an all-time high against NCAA Division I competition, as the Tigers battled to an 87-73 loss at Western Kentucky University Saturday afternoon in E.A. Diddle Arena.

 

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Campbellsville led by as many as three, 47-44, with 15:27 to play in the game. The Tigers kept their lead for four minutes and then remained within a possession for the next minute, including a one-handed slam by Eric Gaines to pull within a point, 52-51. The dunk, which towered lit up Twitter with hashtags #SCTop10 and calls for it to make ESPN'S SportsCenter. WKU responded though with a 12-0 run to go up by 13 points, 64-51, with just under 10 minutes to play.

Campbellsville cut the margin to single-digits twice down the stretch and again to 10 on a DeShawn Dockery 3-pointer with 1:28 to play, but Western Kentucky hit 6-of-7 free throws in the final four minutes to secure its 13-point win.

"There are no moral victories or looking at it saying, 'at least we played them close.' That's not what this team is here for," said CU head coach Keith Adkins. I'm probably most impressed with how we handled this. They didn't like it. I looked around (after the game), and I'm really pleased with the demeanor of my team. They weren't happy with a loss, and that says a lot about this group. They want to win. Playing someone close isn't their idea of a great game. Hopefully we can carry that into the regular season and maybe turn it around and do something with it."

Campbellsville wraps up its preseason exhibition play against NCAA Division I opponents, and Adkins feels prepared for CU's opener next weekend.

"Our goal with these exhibitions is to make sure we feel good about what we're doing and how we're playing when we move into regular season games. I don't think there's a question that we've accomplished that," Adkins said. "There's no question we come out of this better tonight than when we came in here today. We're a better basketball team because of what we had to go through. We had to work to get open. We had to work to get good shots. We had to defend high-level basketball players, and we were competitive. We gave ourselves a chance to win, and that's all you can ask against a D1 opponent. I think it will absolutely pay off for us when it comes down to our schedule."

Just like the season-opening exhibition loss at Oklahoma State University (No. 8 AP/No. 12 USAToday), 80-70, CU took an early lead over their D1 competition. Eric Gaines hit a pair of free throws two minutes into the game and Miles Rice connected on a 3-pointer to give CU a 5-3 lead. WKU used a 10-0 run to go up by eight, 13-5. Gaines ended the run with fast break steal and dunk – the first of three big dunks in the game by the Tigers, two by Gaines.

WKU built its lead to 13 in the first half before the Tigers closed the gap on a 17-8 run to pull back within a point, 28-27. The run was orchestrated by two 3-pointers by senior center Jordan Myers, who stepped out of the paint and hit 5-of-8 from the arc in the game. Darius Clement also had a 3 and jumper in the run, while the Tigers hit 7-of-7 free throws during the stretch.

"Jordan Myers shot the ball extremely well. If he shoots it like that, man, the way our guys can dribble and drive and get to the rim to create things for him, we're going to be in good shape," Adkins said.

CU entered halftime trailing 37-36 after a layup by Gaines, who led all players for the second straight week, scoring 18 points. Myers followed with 17, while Rice had 13 and Dockery had 10 in the game.

WKU adjusted in the second half, shooting 51.9 percent from the field. Though Campbellsville continued to out-shoot the Hilltoppers from the floor, hitting 56 percent from the floor, the Tigers struggled at the free throw line in the final 20 minutes – hitting 5-of-15.

"I don't know if we win, if we lose or where it ends up, but I know it's a different basketball game (if we hit free throws). It gives us an opportunity. I think fatigue plays a little bit into that, but we're going to need to get more serious when we shoot free throws in practice," Adkins said.

WKU was led in scoring by Brandon Price and T.J. Price's 15 points, while Caden Dickerson and Aaron Adeoye each had 14 points.Adeoye also had 10 rebounds, including eight on the defensive glass.

A'Darius Pegues led CU's rebounding effort with eight defensive rebounds, as CU had 34 defensive boards to the Hilltoppers' 31 and fell only five rebounds shy in the rebound margin.

"A'Darius only had six points tonight, but when we get into NAIA play, he's going to be a force in the paint. We'll see where things go from here," Adkins said.

Campbellsville, ranked No. 26 in the preseason NAIA poll, will open the 2013-14 regular season in Las Vegas to compete in the Tip-Off Classic at Chuck Minker Sports Complex. Campbellsville will meet No. 27 Vanguard University on Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. EST and No. 6 Concordia University (Calif.) on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m.

Live media links for the tournament are unknown at this time.

To follow Campbellsville University men's basketball action all season, visit CampbellsvilleTigers.com or follow the action on Twitter @CvilleTigers.