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Weber State forward Edwin Suarez Jr. (0) drives against Campbell's Chris Fields Jr. in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State center Malek Gomma (7) dunks against Campbell in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State players Jace Whiting (24) and Malek Gomma contend for a rebound against Campbell in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weeber State's Malek Gomma (7) leaps for a layup attempt against Campbell's Chris Fields Jr. (0) in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State guard Duce Paschal, center right, rises to shoot against Campbell players in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State's Malek Gomma, center, ties up with Campbell's Chris Fields Jr. for the ball in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. (3) reaches to scoop a basket against a foul from Campbell's Cam Gregory (7) in Game 1 of the Junction City Jam on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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OGDEN — Wednesday night was better than Wednesday morning.

The day the Junction City Jam was set to tip at the Dee Events Center, Weber State men’s basketball already knew it would be without leading scorer Trevor Hennig due to an ankle injury and learned backup point guard ArDarius Grayson had woken up with a fever.

But come late Wednesday night, the Wildcats had tallied their first Division I victory of the season.

Tijan Saine Jr. totaled 23 points and seven assists, Weber State shot out to a 21-point lead in the second half, and the Wildcats outlasted a free-throw-parading Campbell 91-85 to get in the win column at the Dee Events Center.

“We could call this a culture game. We had some adversity that came on us fast … we talked all summer and fall about being able to face adversity, that’s what a season is. And our guys didn’t blink,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “I was really proud of their connectivity tonight.”

The Wildcats (2-3) withstood an early 10-0 Campbell run and tied it 28-28 with 6 minutes to go in the first half, but soon trailed 32-28.

WSU went wild from that point. Viljami Vartiainen hit two 3-pointers in the final 3 minutes, Saine added a triple of his own and a 14-5 run, including 8-0 in the final 1:10, had the Wildcats leading 45-37 at halftime.

The break didn’t slow things down. Saine hit another 3 to open the second half, grabbed a steal to get Jace Whiting a transition layup, and Edwin Suarez dished to Malek Gomma for a dunk before soon scoring twice in the paint himself. Suddenly, it was 58-41 with 16:47 left in the game.

WSU was on a 21-4 run over 4 1/2 minutes (and an extended 30-9 advantage in about 8 minutes of action).

“We’re a young team, a lot of new players, and for a long period of time — end of the first half and about 12 minutes of the second half — I thought we played really, really good,” Duft said. “But we’ve got to play good longer.”

In Hennig’s absence, freshman guard Duce Paschal got in the mix and scored on consecutive offensive rebound putbacks (WSU had 12 offensive rebounds for 12 second-chance points in the game). Suarez converted a three-point play and Saine scored while fouled to make it 73-52 with 10:15 left. Weber had begun to run Campbell off the floor.

But DJ Smith, a 23-points-per-game scorer held in check for 30 minutes, started to get rolling. The senior guard (Campbell rostered seven seniors to WSU’s one) got into the paint for two buckets, baited a foul call on a 3-point attempt, then drained a 3-pointer coming off a high screen — 10 points in just 3 minutes to key a 14-4 Campbell run that cut the score to 81-75 with 4:00 on the clock.

Weber worked through Suarez in the post with mixed results and saw Vartiainen miss two wide-open looks at 3 on the same possession, unable to quell Campbell’s rally as the Camels paraded to the free-throw line — ultimately shooting 27 of 29 to Weber’s 12 of 17 before Campbell began intentionally fouling late. The Camels shot 26 free throws in the second half.

Two Cam Gregory freebies made it 84-83 with 1:01 left; just like Weber State had scored 28 points in the first 9:45 of the first half, Campbell lit up for 33 points in the final 10:15. The Camels shot 16 of 19 at the foul line in that 10:15.

“I thought some of it was fatigue, but we’ve got to learn from it. And Campbell’s good; I mean, they went to West Virginia, it was a two-point game with a minute-and-a-half to go,” Duft said. “We didn’t play very good that last 7 or 8 minutes, and we kind of quit playing. I wanted them to play faster in that time, but I think we were playing not to lose.

“And that was the one thing that didn’t happen is — the connectivity was awesome. We’re not pointing at each other, we’re not blaming each other, we’re trying to figure it out, work through the problem. And I thought they did a great job of that.”

But with the score down to one possession, the Campbell Camels gambled and missed on a steal, so Nigel Burris ambled to a transition layup through contact for an important 88-84 cushion with 40 seconds left.

Whiting provided a key stop when Campbell tried to inbound to Smith with a loft across the perimeter; Whiting, who locked onto Smith without even looking at the pass, deflected the ball, which then deflected off Smith and out of bounds.

Saine shot 3 of 4 on two trips to the free-throw line to seal the win, making it 91-84 with 14 seconds left.

Smith scored 13 points after halftime for 22 total to lead Campbell. Forward Dovydas Butkas totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds; he and fellow forward Chris Fields Jr. combined to shoot 14 of 16 at the foul line as Fields added 18 points.

Saine led five WSU players in double figures. Whiting scored 17 points and Vartiainen 16. Gomma totaled 12 points and nine rebounds, while Suarez pitched in 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Grayson got up to play but managed just 4:48 on the court and was minus-11, recording one missed shot and one turnover trying to spell Saine in brief moments throughout the contest. Duft said Grayson should be more ready to play Saturday but Hennig is 50-50 at best.

Campbell and UT-Arlington face off at 1 p.m. Friday. Weber State then plays Arlington at 7 p.m. Saturday to conclude the event.