LYNCHBURG, VA. - Saah Nimley scored 17 of a game-high 23 points in the second half as the Charleston Southern men's basketball team downed Liberty, 81-76, at the Randolph College Physical Education Center on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, CSU (9-4, 3-0) matched its road win total from a season ago and moved to 3-0 in Big South Conference play for the first time since 2004-2005.

It was Nimley's third 20-point game of the year, and spearheaded another balanced attack that saw four players reach double figures. Junior sharpshooter Mathiang Muo netted 13 of his 17 in the first half, while Nimley's backcourt mate and classmate Arlon Harper chipped in 12.

Senior forward Kelvin Martin was terrific again, posting his second straight double-double and fifth of the campaign with 16 points and 12 rebounds. A game after moving into 10th place on the Big South's all-time rebounding list, Martin became just the ninth player in league history with more than 800 career caroms.

Liberty's (5-10, 0-3) David Minaya was shut out in the opening twenty minutes, but helped fuel the Flames with 16 points in the second half. Minaya first scored on three consecutive drives and then hit a pair of jumpers from the baseline as the CSU advantage was cut to two on five different occasions.

Every time Liberty seemed poised to tie or take the lead, however, the Bucs countered with a key basket. The duo of Harper and Nimley did the bulk of the damage this time.

Nimley scored on a bevy of drives, twice using the cross-over dribble to shake reigning league player of the year Jesse Sanders for runners in the lane. The second moved the CSU advantage to 65-59, and the cushion quickly swelled to eight when Harper plugged the passing line for another steal and went in for a layup. Two Nimley free throws gave the Bucs their first double digit lead, and Muo drained a foul line pull-up to make it 71-60 with 4:51 remaining.

Four more Nimley free throws brought the CSU lead to 75-62 at the 2:57 mark, but Liberty would not go down easily. Aided by three turnovers and six missed free throws, the Flames whittled their deficit to 77-73 with 31 seconds left. Nimley did enough to keep Liberty at bay, though, sinking his final four free throws to provide the Bucs their first win in Lynchburg since the 2005-2006 season.

Sanders paced Liberty with 20 points and 10 rebounds, throwing in eight assists to nearly post the fourth triple-double of his career. Antwan Burrus contributed 13 points and 7 rebounds as well, as Liberty edged CSU 37-36 on the glass in a battle of the third and fourth best rebounding clubs in the Big South.

Muo entered just 2-for-his-last-16 from the floor, but rediscovered the stroke that makes him the 5th leading three-point shooter in the Big South. The 6-5 Sudan native knocked down three triples in the first half en route to 13 points as CSU took a 44-38 lead into intermission.

The Bucs jumped out to a 6-1 lead early, courtesy of two jumpers from Muo and a Harper fast break layup. Liberty answered back immediately with a 9-0 run, though, and built its advantage to as many as 17-10 on a John Caleb Sanders three.

Both sides traded buckets over the next several minutes, as the lead changed hands four times before CSU assumed control with an 8-0 run triggered by Muo.

Trailing 29-27, Muo swished home a trey from each corner off drives by Nimley and Martin on successive possessions to put the Bucs in front by four. Harper then fueled another score by blocking a Sanders jumper and racing the other way for a layup to give CSU a 35-29 lead with 5:40 remaining until halftime.

Liberty crept back within 38-36 on another Sanders shot from downtown, but Martin drove to the tin for a basket and hit a pair of free throws before Nimley scored on a put back to allow for the six-point cushion at the break.

CSU concludes a stretch of six road games in seven contests when they travel to High Point on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with coverage beginning at 6:50 on 106.3 WJNI FM. As always, the game can also be viewed on the Big South Network, presented by State Farm.