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Campbell wins again on road
By Greg Gulas
NEW MIDDLETOWN
Campbell head coach Nick Canterino didn’t envision his team losing three of their first four games to start the season.
After Friday’s 63-56 road victory over Springfield, riding a two-game win streak into the Christmas break is definitely a momentum builder for the Red Devils.
Devontay Johnson scored 19 points, Nikolas Kouros added 18 and the Red Devils (3-4) withstood a late Springfield rally as they won for the second time in three road appearances.
“A win like this, especially on the road, makes us stronger as a team and gives us some much needed confidence,” Johnson said. “It shows others that we’re a better team than most think.
“The gameplan was to play fast, limit our turnovers, be smart with the ball and just take shots that you can make.”
Back-to-back triples by Johnson to start the game gave the Red Devils the early 6-4 lead, pushing the margin to 11-5 when Trelayne Edwards canned his only bucket from beyond the arc with 2:54 remaining in the period.
A 6-3 run by Campbell to end the opening session gave the Red Devils a 17-9 lead heading to the second frame.
Five points and a triple each form both Kouros and Johnson in the second quarter helped the Red Devils open a 35-24 halftime advantage.
Campbell opened their largest lead of the game at 42-26 barely three minutes after the intermission, but a 9-0 run by the Tigers (4-2) cut the deficit to 42-35 before the Red Devils reasserted themselves and opened a 48-36 lead with eight minutes remaining.
“Coach [Canterino] always stresses take care of the ball and we made some easy buckets to start the game,” Kouros said. “When they made their run in the fourth quarter, they also made some easy buckets.
“We were able to pressure them into some turnovers and as we pressured them, it was tough for them to find the open man.”
A hoop in the lane by Darion Jones with 4:30 remaining stretched the Red Devils lead to 56-42, but the scrappy Tigers put together a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 56-52 with 1:51 remaining.
The run included four points each from Shane Eynon and John Ritter, and a floater from the free throw line by Clay Medvec.
The two teams exchanged buckets to make it 58-54 in favor of Campbell, but that was the closest Springfield could get as the Red Devils closed with a 5-2 run to seal the victory.
“It’s a simple game in that the team that puts the ball in the bucket the most usually wins,” Springfield coach Steve French said. Tonight, we just couldn’t put one in the ocean.
“We’re a team that plays hard all the time and definitely played hard tonight,” French said. “Shane showed a lot of heart as well. He’s someone that always shows up to play and had an excellent overall game.”
Each team was a little sloppy with their ball handling as the Red Devils committed 23 miscues (16 after the break), forcing 19 by the Tigers.
“We have an exciting group of players and this is a big win for us,” Canterino said. “It’s tough to play here because Springfield is always tough at home, they’re well-coached and the stands are right on top of you.
“We haven’t won a lot of games the past few seasons, lost some close games and also took our lumps. But this group learned from those tough losses and a win like this only makes us better as we move forward.”