KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Going almost two weeks without playing a game takes it toll of a team and Campbellsville men's basketball was no different. The Tigers sprinted out of the gates like a well-trained Lexington, Ky. thoroughbred but fatigue settled in, slowing the sprint to a steady trot. Campbellsville outlasted a late LSU Shreveport run to defeat the Pilots, 88-80, to move on to the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Round of 16.

BOX SCORE

It is the first time in the university's history both the men's and women's team have advanced to the Round of 16 in the same year. CU's women also beat LSU Shreveport Thursday, 55-46. 

Campbellsville will now play the winner of Thursday's late game between Westmont (Calif.) and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), in Friday's night cap at 10:45 EDT. You can listen to the game live on 88.7 The Tiger.

"We are happy to be moving on," said NAIA Coach of the Year Keith Adkins. "The name of the game this time of year is survive and advance and we were able to do that. We had spurts where we were really good but also had spurts where we struggled defensively. I think the rust of not having a game in almost two weeks hurt us."

The Tigers were on fire all night, hitting 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the floor and 45.4 percent (10-of-22) from 3-point land. D'Von Campbell led the Tigers' offensive attack scoring 22 points, including six 3-point baskets. Damontre Harris was not far behind his fellow senior, scoring 20 points and brought the Municipal Auditorium crowd to its feet with multiple ferocious dunks.

Eric Gaines finished right behind the duo of Campbell and Harris, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

"I thought our best players played well," said Adkins. "I said it since October, I think our three top players (Campbell, Harris and Gaines) are as good and competitive as anyone else's best three in the country."

Campbell sparked the Tigers in the first few minutes, hitting two of 3-pointers to start an 8-0 run. Damontre Harris capped the run with one of his five dunks, forcing LSU Shreveport to call a timeout just 70 seconds into the game.

Campbellsville took its largest lead of the first half, 18-8, with Mile Rice hitting the fourth Edward Jones 3-pointer of the night with 13:09 left, but the Pilots came flying out of nowhere with a 23-7 run to take its first lead, 28-25, with 4:20.

LSU Shreveport's Josh Walker sparked the run with three straight 3-point baskets. Jesse McWright joined with a triple of his own for four-straight 3-pointers by LSU Shreveport. The Pilots took a 31-25 lead forcing Adkins to call his first timeout.

Walker finished with a game-high 25 points, hitting 5-of-6 long-range triples. McWright was the only other Pilot in double figures with 10 points.

"Walker is a very good shooter," said Adkins. "But we talk about this within our program a lot, when you do not contest shots the way we should, we turn good shooters into great shooters, and I think that is what happened tonight by losing him a couple times on defense."

The Tigers answered their fearless leader and finished the first half on an 8-0 run. Campbell nailed his fourth and fifth 3-pointers and Elliott Young hit a 15-foot jumper with time running low in the first half to push the Tigers back in front, 38-36 at the half.

"We went through a stretch where we didn't defend late in the first half," said Adkins. "But we turned it around and finished strong. That was a huge momentum booster for us late in the half. Then Eric (Gaines) had a steal and layup to start the second half and we were fine after that."

Campbellsville extended its run after the intermission with the aid of two posterizing slam dunks by Damontre Harris. The Pilots did not go away, though and kept firing from long range.

LSU Shreveport came into the first round of the NAIA Tournament hitting seven 3s per game, but the Pilots demolished that stat. LSUS finished the game shooting 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc.

Darius Clement continued CU's hot shooting, hitting his second 3 and pushing the Tigers to their largest lead to that point, 67-53, with 12:00 left. Then Campbellsville took the air out of the sails of LSU Shreveport and went up by as much as 18 points in the final six minutes.

Campbellsville got a little lackadaisical down the stretch and allowed the Pilots back into the ball game with 1:20 left. LSU Shreveport cut the lead to five, 82-77, but Campbellsville hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:06 to seal its sixth overall NAIA Tournament victory.

Campbellsville struggled from the free throw line in the first half, only hitting 2-of-7 but finished hitting 18-of-25 in the second half.

The win is Campbellsville's first in the NAIA Tournament since its 2008 Fab Four run. 

To follow the Tigers throughout the year, check out @CvilleTigers on Twitter and Campbellsville Tigers on Facebook.

Complete coverage of Campbellsville's trip to the NAIA Division I Women's & Men's Basketball Championships can be found on the CU Tournament Central page, HERE.