Camels knock off Longwood in Big South quarters
By Campbell Athletics
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jay Pal, Anthony Dell'Orso and Ricky Clemons combined for 61 points and Campbell upset defending champion and second-seeded Longwood 81-68 Friday night in the Hercules Tires Big South Championship quarterfinal round at Bojangles' Coliseum.
Seventh-seeded Campbell (15-17) advances to Saturday's 2 p.m. semifinal against third seed Radford or sixth-seeded Winthrop. Top seed UNC Asheville will meet fourth-seeded USC Upstate at 12 p.m. Asheville defeated Charleston Southern 75-66 Friday afternoon, while Jordan Gainey banked in a three with 0.1 seconds to play in Upstate's 77-76 win over Gardner-Webb.
Pal scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double, Dell'Orso scored 20 with eight boards and Clemons added 18 points and dealt four assists with no turnovers in 38 minutes. Joshua Lusane came off the bench to chip in 11 points and five boards for the Camels, who shot 56 percent in the second half, 52.9 percent overall.
Isaiah Wilkins led Longwood (20-12) with 23 points, 17 in the first half, before fouling out with 2:50 to play. Michael Christmas added 15 points for the Lancers, who shot just 33 percent in the second period and missed all 12 of their threes after intermission.
Pal drained a three and converted a 3-point play to cap a 14-0 run that gave Campbell a 66-52 lead with 8:54 remaining. Clemons dealt three assists and Pal had eight points in the burst as Campbell made 12 of its first 16 shots in the second half.
Longwood went nearly eight minutes without a field goal and was unable to trim the deficit below 11 down the stretch.
Campbell made 16-of-19 from the line in the second half, 24-of-28 (.857) on the night, to defeat a Longwood team that defeated the Camels twice by more than 20 points in the regular season. CU finished with a 34-28 advantage on the boards, outscored Longwood in the paint 48-32 and 22-8 on fast break opportunities.
Pal was 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line, while adding three blocks. The Big South freshman of the year, Dell'Orso was 6-of-10 from the floor and made all seven of his free throws. Clemons hit 7-of-9 from the field.
Longwood took a 34-24 lead on Christmas' wing three with 4:39 to play in the opening half, but the Camels responded with a 9-0 run capped by Dell'Orso's 3-point play – to bring the Camels within one. However, a DeShaun Wade three and Zac Watson's lay-in at the buzzer gave the Lancers a 41-35 edge at the break.
Both teams shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening half, but Longwood made 4-of-13 threes, while the Camels were 1-of-6 beyond the arc. Wilkins scored 17 first-half points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field (1-2 threes) and 4-of-4 from the line.
Dell'Orso led the Camels with 11 points plus four assists in the opening period, while Clemons added eight points.
NOTES:
Campbell's victory marked the first time a seventh seed defeated the second seed since Campbell knocked out UNC Asheville 81-79 on Mar. 2, 2017 when Chris Clemons scored a league record 51 points.
Campbell owns an 19-19 record all-time in Big South tourney play, 5-1 in the semifinal round and 1-5 in the finals. Since returning to the Big South from the ASUN in 2011-12, Campbell stands 11-11 in league championship tournament play.
Friday's contest was the first between the Camels and Lancers in the tourney since Longwood joined the league in 2013.
2023 Hercules Tires Big South Championship (at Charlotte)
Wednesday, March 1 – First Round (ESPN+)
#9 Charleston Southern 72, #8 High Point 70
#7 Campbell 68, #10 Presbyterian 62
Friday, March 3 – Quarterfinals (ESPN+)
#1 UNC Asheville 75, Charleston Southern 66
#4 USC Upstate 77, #5 Gardner-Webb 76
Campbell 81, #2 Longwood 68
#3 Radford vs. #6 Winthrop (8:00)
Saturday, March 4 – Semifinals (ESPN+)
UNC Asheville vs. USC Upstate (12:00)
Campbell vs. QF 4 winner (2:00)
Saturday, March 5 – Final (ESPN2)
Semifinal winners (1:00)