CHARLESTON, S.C. - Early defensive stops allowed Charleston Southern to grab a lead and they scored in every quarter to take down future Big South member Presbyterian, 29-18, Saturday at Buccaneer Field. The Buccaneers evened their record at 5-5 on the season with their third-straight victory over PC, who fell to 4-6 with the loss.

The Buc defense forced three-and-outs on the first two PC drives, pushing the PC offense back for a combined 18 yards. A roughing the kicker penalty on the second PC drive kept the offense on the field for the Blue Hose, but the CSU defense responded again with a three-and-out.

Linebackers Andrew McKain and Josh Mitchell tied for team-high honors with nine stops each, while Justin Witzmann set a career high with eight tackles, including two of the four CSU sacks.

Offensively, CSU continued to work toward a balanced attack, topping 100 yards on the ground for the fourth time in five games. B.J. Hackworth led the way with a 6.1 yards per carry average, tallying 55 yards on nine rushes. Quarterback Tribble Reese had another outstanding game completing 16 of his 21 pass attempts for 214 yards and four touchdowns.

Gerald Stevenson had two of the touchdown catches, part of a six-catch, 85-yard day for Stevenson in which he set the CSU career return record (59). T.J. Lattimore and Tyrese Harris each had one catch on the day, but both scored on the play.

For PC, Brandon Miley hit 23 of his 36 pass attempts for 230 yards and a touchdown in his second-career start. Miley also led the way with 13 carries, including a touchdown scamper in the first quarter, which brought the Blue Hose to within one at 7-6 after a missed extra point. The points came after CSU took advantage of good field position on their first possession to march 42 yards for an early 7-0 lead.

The Bucs extended the lead to 14-6 on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Stevenson on the first play of the second quarter and looked to get the ball back after yet another three-and-out by the Blue Hose. It would not happen, though, as Bryson Summers' punt was fumbled by CSU, giving the ball back to PC with a short field.

A PC holding penalty made it a slightly longer field, but it didn't matter as Miley found Brandon Clark for the touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, again pulling the Blue Hose to within one. A field goal by Cam Miller gave PC their first lead of the game at 16-14 early in the third, but it was a lead that they would not hold for long as CSU marched 66 yards in four plays on the ensuing drive to go back in front 22-16. 41 of the 66 yards came on the touchdown strike as Lattimore broke loose after a short pass.

The final CSU points came at the end of a terrific 14-play, 92-yard drive that chewed up almost eight minutes off the clock (7:54). It was a 21-yard pass from Reese to Stevenson that finally got the Bucs in the endzone to go up 29-16.

Andy Brown's punt was blocked by Justin Bethel with 6:04 on the clock, but the swat sent the ball all the way through the endzone, resulting in a safety for PC. A couple of big stops, including a fourth-down stop late in the game sealed the deal for CSU, giving them the victory, and preserving their unblemished home record at 4-0 with one game to go.

The final home game of the season will be next week as CSU takes on Edward Waters on Nov. 15. The opening kick is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with senior day recognition taking place before the game.