Life University used a 25-6 run in the first half to hand 15th-ranked Campbellsville its third-straight loss, 82-64, at The Eagles’ Nest.
The Tigers (15-4, 0-3 Mid-South Conference) had just two players score in double figures with Tim Coleman scoring 14 points to lead Campbellsville and Jalen Coates chipped in with 10 points. Campbellsville shot just 32 percent from the floor in the first half, which marked a new season low.
Michael Miller scored a game-high 22 points and David Scott recorded 21 points for the Running Eagles (13-5, 2-1 MSC). Undra Mitchem recorded 17 points for Life as it finished the day making 12-of-25 three pointers, highlighted by 7-of-13 in the first half.
A back-and-forth battle broke out in the early going with the lead changing hands four times in the first four-plus minutes of the game and the score was also tied on three different occasions.
With Campbellsville holding a 12-11 lead, Life went on a 12-2 run to grab a nine-point advantage with 11:29 left before halftime. The Tigers could not battle back from the Running Eagle run as Life continued to pull away taking its first double-digit just 94 seconds later, 28-17, and then scored the next nine points to pull ahead by 20 points just before the final media timeout of the first half.
After Campbellsville’s last lead of the game at the 16:14 mark in the first half, the Running Eagles outscored the Tigers, 26-5, heading into the media timeout with 5:50 left in the half. Life took its largest lead of the half at 45-23 with just 1:31 until the half and the Running Eagles led, 45-27, at the intermission.
Campbellsville could not mount a comeback in the final 20 minutes of action as Life led by at least 20 points for all but five minutes in the second half. The Tigers pulled within 16 points in the first minute of action and once again with three minutes left in regulation, but they could not get any closer.
Life had its largest lead of the afternoon at the 4:48 mark in the second half after Scott put the Running Eagles ahead by 26 points, which was followed by 10-striaght points from Campbellsville to make the score 80-64 in favor of Life.
Just two more points were scored over the final 2:49 of the game as the Running Eagles picked up an 82-64 victory.
With the loss, Campbellsville is the only team in the Mid-South still looking for its first win of the season.
The Tigers’ 64 points set a new season-low and is the fewest points they have scored since a 61-47 loss against Life in last year’s regular-season finale.
Campbellsville is back at home on Thursday night to face No. 6 University of Pikeville at 8 p.m. ET. Thursday will mark the Tigers fourth-straight game against a team ranked or receiving votes in the national poll.
by David Gerhart
