Box Score Charleston Southern shot almost 60% in the second half and hit 13 three-pointers to earn the 81-64 win over the Presbyterian College men's basketball team in the first round of the Hercules Tires Big South Men's Basketball Championship, held in Charleston, S.C. Cory Hightower led the Blue Hose with 16 points, with Sean Jenkins tops on the boards with six rebounds.
 
Scoring the Game
After a strong opening that saw the Blue Hose take a 6-2 lead with 18:35 to go in the half, the Bucs came back with 12 unanswered, helped by three three-pointers, to jump out to a 14-6 lead, 16:36 on the clock. The Blue Hose would cut the margin to six a couple of minutes later, but CSU hit two threes over the next two and a half minutes to ignite a 12-3 run to take its largest lead of the half, 28-13, 6:57 remaining before the break. Six points from Cory Hightower and a three from Kody Shubert in an 8-1 run trimmed the lead to just seven, 22-29, 5:20 left.  After CSU went ahead by 12 with five straight, Sean Jenkins hit back to back three-pointers to put the Blue Hose to within six, 28-34, 2:42 before the break.  The Bucs closed out the half with another five straight and went into the locker room ahead by 11, 39-28.
 
The Bucs hit three three-pointers in the opening four and a half minutes of the second half to help the home team build a 16-point, 50-34 lead, 15:39 remaining. JC Younger, Owen McCormack, and Shubert responded over the next two minutes with back to back to back three-pointers to cut the lead to seven, 43-50, 13:31 on the clock.  Back to back threes from Buskey and Phlandrous Fleming ended PC's 9-0 run and put the home team back ahead by double-digits, 56-43, 12:08 left. Two free throws by Chris Martin at 8:51 cut CSU's lead to 15, but a 7-2 run gave the Bucs their largest lead of the game, 70-50.  McCormack's three cut it to 17 at 5:31, with Younger's third three of the night helped the visitors cut the margin to 15 at 2:11.  That would be as close as PC would get with CSU hitting five unanswered to go back ahead by 20, taking the eventual 81-64 win.
 
Players of the Game
Cory Hightower led the Blue Hose in the first with 11 points, while Deontaye Buskey was the offensive leader for CSU with 16 points, helped by a four-of-seven effort from the perimeter. Hightower was held to five points in the second to finish with 16. Sean Jenkins led the team in rebounds with six. Deontaye Buskey led CSU with 30 points, helped by eight three-pointers. Phlandrous Fleming recorded a Big South record triple double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.
 
Stats of the Game
The story in the first half was the perimeter play of both teams, with PC hitting five three-pointers and CSU coming away with six.  The Bucs hit 43.3% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while the Blue Hose shot 31.0%. PC shot 47.8% in the second half to finish with 38.5%.  CSU shot 57.7% in the second, ending the game with 50.0%.  The Bucs led in rebounds, 34-30, and posted two fewer turnovers, 7-9.  Three-pointers continued to be key, with PC hitting 10 for the game, CSU 13.
 
Notables
PC moves to 2-8 in Big South Tournament action.
 
For the Record
PC ends the season at 10-22, while Charleston Southern improves to 14-17. The Bucs advance to the tournament quarterfinals and face #1 seed Radford March 5, at 6 p.m., in Radford, Va.