Campbell beats UT Martin, advances to CIT quarterfinals

The victory not only advanced the Camels into the tournament quarterfinals this weekend, but at 19-17, it also guaranteed that they will finish the season with a winning record

Madeline Gray—North State Journal
Campbell guard Marcus Burk (34) goes up for a basket during the game against Liberty University on Saturday

North Carolina isn’t the only state college basketball team still playing. While Duke, Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington and others are all on the sidelines after suffering postseason losses, Campbell is still alive and kicking in the CollegeInsiders.com Tournament. The Camels extended their season on Monday with a second-round 73-56 victory against Tennessee-Martin at Gore Arena in Buies Creek. The victory not only advanced coach Kevin McGeehan’s team into the tournament quarterfinals this weekend, but at 19-17, it also guaranteed that Campbell will finish the season with a winning record. Just as they did in their first round victory against Houston Baptist, the Camels got off to a fast start and broke the game open by halftime. Led by star sophomore Chris Clemons, who finished with 29 points, Campbell ran off 15 straight points to turn an 11-9 deficit into a double-digit lead. It increased the margin to 37-19 by the intermission before before battling the Skyhawks (22-13) evenly through the remainder of the game. While Clemons led the way again by going 10 for 17 from the floor with six rebounds, four steals and three assists, the Camels also got another big game from emerging freshman Marcus Burk. The 6-foot-3 guard posted his third straight double-figure performance by scoring 15 points — his previous career high before hitting for 27 against Houston Baptist last week. Fellow freshman Cory Gensler added 10 points while Jacolby Mobley led UT Martin with 27 points. The Camels won’t know their next opponent until the remainder of the Round of 16 is completed on Wednesday.