CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 62, HIGH POINT 52
Charleston Southern traveled to play in an early Big South matchup Monday against the High Point Panthers at the Millis Athletic Center, and the Bucs dominated the second half, scoring 45 points on route to a 62-52 win.  With the win, CSU moved past the .500 mark for the first time this season, improving to 4-3 with a 1-0 Big South record.  High Point dropped to 2-4 on the season and 0-1 within the Conference. 

Jamarco Warren poured in a career high 29 points including 6 treys and a perfect 7-7 from the line.  Omar Carter also reached double figures with 16 points and 6 rebounds.  Kelvin Martin struggled with his shot, but cleaned up the glass with a game high 13 boards.  For the Panthers, Earnest Bridges had a career-best 15 points on 6-9 shooting, plus and 7 rebounds.  HPU freshman David Singleton also reached double-digit points for the first time in his career with 11 points for the Panthers.

High Point raced out of the gate scoring the first nine points of the contest and holding a 9-0 lead at the first media timeout.  CSU chipped away at the Panther lead and managed to put its first point on the board five minutes into the game with a Tovi Bailey free throw.  The Bucs settled in with a defensive effort of their own, to go on a 9-2 run from that point, thanks to a three from Austin Johnson and an old fashioned three point play from Warren and eventually knotted the score at 15 with 6:37 to play in the first half.  The two squads combined for just six points over the remainder of the period as High Point held a 19-17 halftime lead thanks to a basket by Dave Campbell at the buzzer.  Both teams struggled to consistently make shots in the first half with Charleston Southern shooting 20 percent and High Point finishing at 32 percent.  The two squads went 2-for-23 combined from the three-point line with each team making one trey.

The second half was a different story, as CSU doubled their score in the first seven minutes.  The Bucs took their first lead at the 14:45 mark with a Warren three, putting the score at 29-26.  That was part of a 17-2 run by Charleston Southern, capped off by another Warren three with 9:16 left to play.  CSU would go on to lead by as many as 18 after Carter scored 2 of his 14 second half points with 4:32 on the clock.  CSU outscored High Point 45-33 in the second half to end with a 62-52 win.  The Bucs came up with their best defensive game of the young season, holding the Panthers to just 2-26 shooting from behind the arc.  CSU also had their lowest turnover total with just 9 on the game.

Charleston Southern will enjoy a 12-day break before coming back to the CSU Field House on December 13, to play Covenant College in a non-conference matchup.  High Point continues its busy week on the hardwood at North Carolina Central on Wednesday at 7:30pm before returning home on Saturday to host Big South newcomer Presbyterian at 7:00pm.

LIBERTY 69, GEORGE MASON 66 (OT)
Fresh off its double-overtime victory Saturday, the Liberty Flames called upon the late-game heroics of Seth Curry in a 69-66 overtime victory over the George Mason Patriots (5-2), Monday night, inside the Vines Center.  The Flames played back-to-back overtime games for the first time since January 1996 and Curry hit a three-point basket in each contest to send the Flames to an extra period.  On Saturday, Curry hit a bucket to send the William & Mary game into a second overtime. Monday night, he did it against another Colonial Athletic Association member, George Mason.

Liberty wasted no time getting started, as Anthony Smith hit a trey at 18:49, courtesy of two offensive rebounds on the possession.  Curry’s jumper in the lane at 16:52 put the Flames up, 5-0.  Louis Birdsong got George Mason on the scoreboard at the 16:36 mark, when he sank both his attempts from the charity stripe.  The Patriots tallied their first field goal 30 seconds later, on a Darryl Monroe bucket in the paint at 16:06, cutting the Flames’ advantage to a point, 5-4.  A Kyle Ohman three-pointer at 14:58 pushed the lead up to four points, 8-4, but the Patriots knotted the contest via two Birdsong buckets, the second coming at 13:00.  The Flames quickly retook the lead on their next possession, 10-8, via a Curry bucket at 12:35.  James Spencer hit a trey in the corner off a Curry pass at 12:00 to push Liberty’s lead to five points, 13-8.

George Mason was able to cut its deficit by two points via a 12-10 exchange.  A Birdsong bucket in the paint at 6:53 ended the run, cutting Liberty’s lead to three points, 23-20.  Liberty ended the half on a 9-4 run, extending its lead to eight points, 32-24, going into the intermission.  A Smith tip-in at 42.2 ended the first half scoring for both teams.  The Flames shot 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from the floor, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from three-point range in the opening stanza.  The Patriots finished the first half connecting on 36.0 percent (9-of-25) from the floor and failed to hit a trey in nine attempts.

Jesse Sanders tallied a bucket at 18:37, pushing Liberty’s lead to 10 points, 34-24.  However, the Patriots came roaring back, scoring eight straight points to pull within two points, 34-32.  A Vaughn bucket at 16:33 finished the run.  Sanders put Liberty back on the scoreboard, 36-32, via two free throws at 15:59.  A Birdsong bucket cut the lead back down to two points, 36-34, at 15:23.  The Patriots made a push, taking its first lead of the game at the 11:26 mark, 44-43, courtesy of an Andre Cornelius trey, George Mason’s first of the game.  That bucket capped a 10-7 run.  Five straight Curry points, capped a 7-4 spurt, helping the Flames reclaim the lead, 51-48, at the 8:09 mark.

Back-to-back points by Cam Long gave the Patriots the advantage, 52-51, with 6:09 remaining in the contest.  Later, a Monroe tip-in at 3:52, gave George Mason a two-point lead, 56-54.  A Smith bucket and two free throws by Sanders gave Liberty back a two point lead, 58-56, with 1:48 on the clock.  But, the Patriots scored five straight markers on a Long triple and a Birdsong layup, taking a solid three-point advantage, 61-58, with 29 seconds remaining, thus setting the stage for more heroics from Curry.  For the second straight game, Curry nailed a trey, helping send Liberty into overtime.  The bucket knotted the game at 61 a piece with 17.7 remaining on the clock.  Curry nailed a three-pointer from an identical spot on the floor on Saturday night, tying the game and sending it to double-overtime against William & Mary.

Cornelius put the Patriots up early in the overtime period, tallying a two-pointer in the paint at 4:43, giving George Mason the 63-61 advantage.  A Vaughn three-point field goal at 3:31 gave the Patriots a four point lead, 66-62.  The Patriots would not score again, as Smith nailed a trifecta, bringing Liberty within a point, 66-65, with 2:28 left.  Then with 40.6 seconds on the clock, Curry rolled off an Ohman screen and nailed an 18-footer, giving Liberty a one point lead, 67-66.  Liberty would never trail again.  A Vaughn pass went through the hands of Birdsong and out of bounds with 13.1 seconds left.  Curry was fouled by Cornelius before the ball was inbounded, sending the freshman to the line for the one-in-one.

Curry nailed both attempts, giving Liberty the three point lead, 69-66, with 13.1 seconds remaining.  George Mason tried to tie the contest on Vaughn’s three-point attempt with three seconds left.  The attempt hit nothing but iron, but Birdsong grabbed the offensive board.  Birdsong tried to dish the ball out to the three point arc, but it went right into the waiting hands of Sanders, sealing the Liberty victory.  The Flames finished the game connecting on 38.5 percent (25-of-65) of its shots from the floor, including 32.4 percent (11-of-34) from three-point range.

Curry, the reigning Big South Player of the Week, tallied a game-high 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc.  Curry also scored eight of Liberty’s last 11 points.  Smith had a stellar game for the Flames, tallying 16 points and pulling down nine rebounds.  Ohman chipped in 16 points and pulled down four caroms in the victory.  Sanders dished out six assists and pulled down a gritty five rebounds, to go with seven points.  The win gives Liberty three non-conference victories over intra-state Division I teams for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.  Liberty beat James Madison (79-70), Richmond (64-61 2OT) and Virginia Tech (62-61).

George Mason finished the game connecting on 42.9 percent (27-of-63) of its shots, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from long range, after being held without a three-point field goal in the opening stanza.  Long led the Patriots with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Vaughn added 14 points. Birdsong added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while adding four blocks.

The Flames return to the hardwood and Big South Conference play on Saturday, when new league member Gardner-Webb enters the Vines Center.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

PRESBYTERIAN 59, ARMY 43
The Presbyterian College men’s basketball team earned its first road win with a 59-43 win over Army at Cristl Arena in West Point, N.Y. on Dec. 1.  The  victory over the Black Knights is the first road win for PC at the Division I level.  The 16 point margin of victory is their largest this season as the Blue Hose move to a 2-4 record on the year.  The Blue Hose were led by Al’Lonzo Coleman’s 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Bryan Bostic had 12 points and Josh Johnson chipped in 11.  Coleman recorded his third double-double of the season and has now led PC in scoring in five of their six games this season.
 
PC (2-4) took a 8-7 lead off of a Bostic jumper at 13:23, giving the Blue Hose their first lead of the game.  In the midst of a six minute Army scoring drought, PC would outscore the Black Knights 6-0 to take a 10-7 advantage at the 12:10 mark.  A basket by Army’s Doug Williams at 12:27 brought the score to 13-9, but the Blue Hose would extend their lead after a three-pointer by Kevin Davis and a layup by Travis Sligh made the score 24-14.  The Blue Hose used a balanced offensive attack in the first half with eight players scoring, and PC headed in the locker room at halftime holding a 28-16 lead.

PC carried its momentum into the second half, scoring the first eight points on two three pointers and a Coleman basket to go up by 20 points.  The Black Knights threatened twice in the second half to cut the deficit to single digits, but PC was able to hold Army on both occasions to keep a double digit lead.  Army was down by 11 points at 7:38 after a basket by Jeremy Hence, but a three pointer from Bostic put PC back ahead by 13 points at 31-45.  Johnson contributed seven of his 11 points in the last three minutes, and the Blue Hose grabbed their first road win at the Division I level by defeating Army by 16 points, 59-43.
 
Army was led by Nathan Hedgecock and Jesse Steele, who each recorded seven points.  The Black Knights fall to 1-6 on the year with the loss.  The Blue Hose were 10 of 16 from the field in the second half with a 62.5 field goal percentage, and held a 48.9 field goal percentage for the game.  PC also held a solid advantage on the boards, out rebounding Army 32-20 in the game. 

PC next travels to Conway, S.C. for its first Big South Conference game against Coastal Carolina on Dec. 3.  The 7:00 p.m. game is the third of five straight road games for the Blue Hose, as they look to grab their second road victory of the season.