CHARLESTON, S.C. - Freshman Tom Tankelewicz came off the bench to stroke four threes en route to 14 points, leading Charleston Southern to an 80-64 win over the Stetson Hatters, Saturday at CSU Field House. The Bucs' bench combined for 41 points, while also shooting better than 50% from the field as a team. CSU improved to 2-1 on the young season while Stetson dropped to 1-3.

Jamarco Warren had a team high 16 points on 4-10 shooting, to go along with a game high five assists. Kelvin Martin came off the bench to tally 15 points and 10 boards for the second consecutive game, while also recording four assists, four blocks and three steals. 11 players registered points for CSU, who shot 52% for the game and 53% from behind the arc. For the Hatters, it was A.J. Smith who led the way with a game high 23 points.

CSU surrendered the first basket of the game, but quickly responded with 10 unanswered, forcing a Stetson timeout. Kenny Mitchell scored six in the process and capped off the 10-0 run, for a 10-2 score at 15:15.

The Bucs continued to increase their advantage to 16-4, including a soaring dunk from Martin. The Hatters managed five points over the next four minutes, but Martin converted on a pair of turnovers to bring the score to 20-9 at the 8:15 mark.

Both teams traded points, but a Quinton Goods free throw gave CSU their biggest lead of the half at 31-18 with 2:54 on the clock. Stetson ended the half on a good note however, drawing a shooting foul at the buzzer to make it a 32-22 score at the intermission.

CSU's defense was the story in the opening 20 minutes, tallying seven blocks, four steals and holding the Hatters to just 23% shooting.

Carrying over some momentum into the second half, Stetson was firing on all cylinders, using an 11-2 run to pull within one at 34-33, three minutes into the half. A long range three from Mark Lohuis completed the run and forced a Buccaneer timeout.

The Hatters took their first lead since the opening bucket, with a 37-36 score, thanks to a Ridge Graham finish at the rim. Tankelewicz answered in the following possession, knocking down his second trey of the night to put CSU on top.

A stretch of four ties and six lead changes brought the score to 52-49 at the 9:29 mark, with the Bucs holding a slight advantage after a Warren three. CSU continued a long range attack, with back-to-back threes from Tankelewicz and Jeremy Sexton, which made it 61-54 with 6:49 left to play.

CSU also used the bonus to their advantage, drawing 10 team fouls on Stetson with over eight minutes to play. Despite missing a few free throws, the Bucs went up 70-59 on another Tankelewicz three, with 3:42 remaining in the game.

CSU managed to hit some free throws down the stretch, working the clock and finishing strong with an 80-64 final score.

The Bucs will stay at home when they host Trinity (Fla.) on Monday, November 23, at 7:30 p.m.

Postgame Quotes