BUIES CREEK — Chris Clemons became Campbell’s all-time leading scorer Wednesday while leading the Camels to a 97-87 victory against Miami of Ohio in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational at Gore Arena.
The junior guard, who ranks fourth nationally with an average of 24.8 points per game, made 11 of his 19 shots — including four 3-pointers — to finish with 32 points. It was his sixth 30-point effort of the season.
Clemons now has 2,179 points in just 95 career games, surpassing Jonathan Rodriguez’s career mark set from 2006-10. The 5-foot-9 Raleigh native surpassed Rodriguez’s total of 2,153 points on a drive to the basket with 5:06 remaining in the first half.
While Clemons was once again the man of the hour for the Camels, he had plenty of help against the RedHawks.
Damontez Oliver added a career-high 19 points off the bench, including a personal-best five treys. Thirteen of his points came in the second half to help Campbell (17-15) battle back from a seven-point deficit. The Camels trailed 53-46 with 18:51 remaining before running off a 26-7 spurt over the next seven minutes to take control.
Marcus Burk scored 16 points and Mogga Lado had 11 off the bench, as Campbell shot 68 percent from the floor in the second half and made 16 of its 30 attempts from 3-point range.
Nike Sibande, the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, scored a career-high 29 points to lead the RedHawks, who finish the season at 16-18.
With the victory, the Camels advance to Monday’s CBI quarterfinals, where they will host New Orleans at Gore Arena. The CBI is a single-elimination tournament until a best-of-three final series, with all games played at campus sites.
New Orleans (16-16) advanced with a 77-74 victory against Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday.
