PULASKI, Tenn. – The William Carey Men's Basketball Team picked up another conference road win, defeating UT-Southern 84-64 Saturday afternoon.
"We had a really good energy today and we got in a good rhythm the first ten minutes of the second half," said Head Coach
Steve Knight. "Good defensive effort holding them to 35% shooting for the game."
Cam Brown and
Ashton Campbell got things going early for the Crusaders opening the game with five straight points. The Firehawks answered with five straight points of their own, but Carey countered with a 9-2 run to push their lead to 14-7 with thirteen minutes to play.
Over the next twelve minutes, Carey maintained the lead with UT-Southern staying just within striking distance, cutting the deficit to as little as three points only to see WCU answer each time. With the Crusaders leading 33-28 with just over a minute left in the half, Brown and
Zandon Haralson drained back-to-back threes to give Carey a 39-28 lead at the break.
WCU carried that momentum into the second half, as Campbell opened the half with a three-point basket. The Firehawks followed cutting the lead back to eleven. After both teams traded points,
Dylan Brumfield and Campell combined for five straight points to push the Carey lead to seventeen just three minutes into the half.
Over the next three minutes, Carey extended their lead even further with
Jamar Jenkins giving them their largest lead of the half at 61-35 on a three pointer and they never looked back. The Carey defense did the rest, as they never let UT-Southern get any closer than 19 points, holding the Firehawks to just 32% shooting from the floor. Despite being out rebounded 21-16 in the half, Carey shot 48% from the floor and converted 11 of 12 free throw attempts.
Cam Brown led the way offensively with a season high 27 points.
Ashton Campbell added 25 points while
Jamar Jenkins finished with ten points.
Carey is back in action Monday, November 18, as they return home to take on Tougaloo College. Play is set to begin at 7:00 pm at Clinton Gym.
