Savannah State holds off Campbell 69-63 in Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Rashad Hassan scored 19 points and Savannah State closed the game on an 8-3 run to hold off Campbell 69-63 Saturday at Gore Arena in the Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters.

The defending MEAC regular season champion Tigers (17-10) extended their winning streak to five games and have now won 12 of their last 13 outings. Campbell (12-17) trailed by as many as 9 in the second half before cutting the gap to one (61-60), but was unable to get any closer.

Hassan came off the bench to hit 7-of-9 shots from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line for Savannah State. Deven Williams added 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting in a reserve role. Preston Blackman chipped in 13, including a turnaround jumper from 12 feet with 45 seconds left that extended the lead to 65-61. Arnold Lewis contributed 9 points and a team-leading 8 rebounds.

Reco McCarter came off the bench to hit career highs with 21 points (7-of-10 from the floor, 7-of-9 from the line), 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Trey Freeman and Leek Leek each added 13 points for the Camels, who trailed 57-49 after Williams hit a 3-pointer with 8:43 to go.
Leek scored the first five points in an 11-4 rally and Freeman's leaner with 1:59 to play trimmed the gap to 61-60, but the nation's fifth-best scoring defense (allowing only 54.4 points per game) held Campbell without a field goal until Andrew Ryan's put-back with 13 seconds to play provided the final margin.

Ryan entered the game averaging 23.5 points over the previous two outings, but scored only two points in 27 minutes Saturday.

Savannah State shot 52 percent (25-48) from the floor on the day and made 15-of-26 (.577) free throws, while holding a 34-20 edge on points in the paint.

Campbell made 42 percent of its shots (22-52) and 16-of-21 (.762) from the line. SSU finished with a slim 33-31 edge on the glass.

Savannah State jumped to a 15-5 lead before the Camels rallied with a 14-4 spurt. The Tigers led 38-33 at the break thanks to 56 percent shooting (15-27) from the field.

Winners of their last two league games, the Camels (7-7 Big South) enter Wednesday night's home finale against Longwood (7:00 p.m.) in second place in the North Division standings with two games remaining to be played. The top two seeds in each division earn a first-round bye in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championship, Mar. 5-10 at Conway, S.C.

Savannah State (10-2 MEAC) returns to league action Monday at Bethune-Cookman (7:30).

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COURTESY CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS