CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville University men's basketball team returned to play in style Thursday night on their way to a 92-72 win over Bethel University at the Powell Athletic Center in their first game since Nov. 7.
The Tigers used a ridiculous second half shooting performance to outscore the Wildcats by 12 in the second 20 minutes of play after entering halftime with an eight-point lead. CU shot 75 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from three-point range on their way to a 55-43 period.
The strong shooting in the second half was a little bit of a surprise as both teams felt a little bit of rust, struggling from field early on as Campbellsville went 3-for-13 over the first 9:35 of the game and Bethel started 0-for-9 that carried to 1-of-12 and 2-of-14 over the first 6:41.
Senior forward
Alston Davis led the offensive charge in the half going a perfect 7-of-7 from the field including 6-for-6 from deep, adding a dunk, and knocking down his only two free throws of the half. Davis finished with a game-high 25 points, which is also his career high, after somewhat struggling in the first half only going 1-of-5 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
It wasn't all the
Alston Davis show as four other Tigers scored in double figures as point guard
Taiveyhon Mason added 18 points and a game-high eight assists as his ability to drive the lane opened up shots for himself and his teammates. Sophomore
Max Reyes spelled Mason at the point guard position and was able to add 13 points and six assists off the bench.
Lenorris Mincey and
Ross Ryan added 10 points each in the front court for CU as
Taj Price was a point away from joining them in double figures finishing with nine points. The big guys also made their presence felt on the defensive end early in the game as the trio combined for four of the team's five blocks in the game with all five came within the first nine minutes of the game.
Davis, Reyes, and Mincey all played in their first game of the 2020-21 season with the trio being out for CU's games against KCU, Simmons, and Union. The Tigers were playing relatively shorthanded with only eight players active as
Jay'von Jackson and
Brayden Sebastian rounding out the starting lineup with Mason, Davis, and Ryan.
Bethel was able to remain in the game for the majority of the time with a strong rebounding effort as they outrebounded CU 42-31. The Wildcats were especially strong on the offensive glass grabbing 20 offensive boards compared to only four for the Tigers.
Kamron Rose was the BU leading scorer off the bench has he scored 20 points with his first 12 being the first 12 points of the game for Bethel. Chandler Clements was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 14 points, but he struggled from the field taking 19 shots to get those 14 points.
Campbellsville will hit the road for their next game as they will face off against the University of Pikeville Bears next Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET at the Appalachian Wireless Arena.
