SOUTHEAST WANTS TO GIVE CAMELS ANOTHER LUMP

Campbell University's men's basketball team entered Monday night's game at Middle Tennessee State having lost its last four road contests by an average of 27 points.

The Fighting Camels suffered their fifth straight road setback of the season Monday -- but at least coach Billy Lee came away feeling a whole lot better about his squad.

Campbell led a solid Middle Tennessee team by 16 points early in the second half and was still ahead 71-62 in the late going. But the Raiders scored 16 of the game's final 18 points to pull out a 78-73 victory.

"We played really hard, with a lot of heart. Even thought it was a disappointing loss, we got some things done," said Lee, who added that he was encouraged by the performance. "Yes, I was. We're playing a lot of new people. We're very inexperienced and that showed in the last three minutes. But I think we're getting better and we have the potential to be a good team."

Lee is hoping the lessons his 3-5 Camels learned Monday will come in handy tonight when they visit the Show Me Center for a 7 o'clock tipoff against Southeast Missouri State University. The Indians, who will be playing their fourth straight home game, are 6-3.

"I know it's going to be a real challenge for us," Lee said. "They're a very good team, very well coached, one that we highly respect. They've built a great program. We'll have to be ready to play, like you always have to be on the road."

Campbell, located in Buies Creek, N.C., competes in the Trans America Athletic Conference. The Camels, who made the NCAA Tournament in 1992, have played just two home games so far, which has helped contribute to their sub-par record.

"It's always tough on the road," said Lee.

But the Camels, who went 12-16 last season, definitely have some things going for them, most notably sharp-shooting guard Adam Fellers.

A 6-foot-2 junior, Fellers has already had three games where he scored more than 30 points and he is averaging 18.6 points a contest while shooting nearly 41 percent from 3-point range (26 of 64). Over his last three games, Fellers is a sizzling 16-for-33 on 3-pointers.

"Adam has had a good beginning of the year," said Lee. "He has worked very hard on his game. He's doing more off the dribble. He's improved a great deal and we're looking for him to keep improving."

Southeast coach Gary Garner has certainly noticed Fellers.

"He's just shooting the lights out," Garner said. "He can shoot, and he shoots it deep. We'll have to pick him up when he gets off the bus."

No other player is scoring in double figures for the Camels, who as a team average just a little more than 63 points per game.

Zydrunas Stankus, a 6-5 junior forward, is Campbell's second-leading scorer (9.3 ppg). One of the Camels' more talented players is 6-7 sophomore center Jonte Edwards (8.6 ppg), who is averaging a team-leading 6.8 rebounds per game.

"On film, it looks like they're pretty athletic," said Garner. "Edwards is really a good rebounder and they've got a freshman who is really shooting the ball well."

Garner was referring to Derek Gray, a 6-foot guard who is hitting better than 45 percent of his 3-point attempts (12 of 26).

Lee said rebounding and defense will be two of his biggest concerns tonight. The relatively small Camels are being outrebounded by an average of three per game, although the Indians were also struggling in that department until improving recently.

"Rebounding will be a key for us, and defensively we'll have to be really good because they're a team that executes very well," Lee said.

Individually, Lee pointed to Southeast standout senior point guard Michael Stokes as not only an exceptional player but one he is familiar with.

"I have the highest regard for him," said Lee. "We recruited him out of high school, he went on to junior college and then wound up here (at Southeast)."

A laughing Lee, who has become known over the years at Campbell for his entertaining quips, added about the speedy Stokes, "He's a heck of a player. He's quick enough to play ping pong by himself"

Garner is more serious when he says he hopes his players give Campbell enough respect. He's worried about a letdown after Saturday's big win over Southwest Missouri and after a stretch of three grueling home games that were decided by a total of seven points. The Indians won two of the three.

"You always worry about that (a letdown) after the kind of game we had Saturday," said Garner. "This isn't a walkover game for us. Campbell is good enough to beat us if we don't come ready to play."