ASHEVILLE, N.C. - In one of the most exciting games of the season, Charleston Southern edged out the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in overtime, taking a 77-74 win Saturday, at the Justice Center. A high scoring overtime period had two ties and six lead changes, capped off by an eventual game winning three from Jeremy Sexton. CSU improved to 8-8 with the win and 3-3 in conference play, while UNCA dropped to 3-12 and 1-4 in the Big South.

Jamarco Warren led all scorers with 23 points on 7-15 shooting, including a 5-10 mark from three point range. Kelvin Martin registered 21 points on 8-13 shooting, to go along with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Freshman Jeremy Sexton also tallied 18 points, while hitting the biggest shot of his young career in the overtime period. The Bulldogs put three in double figures, led by JP Primm with 16 points and nine assists.

CSU got off to a quick start on the road, thanks to six points from Martin that gave the Bucs an early 8-4 advantage. UNCA responded with eight unanswered points, to take their first lead of the game, ahead 12-8 with 13:43 on the clock.

A pair of triples from Warren helped CSU to even the score at 14 and 18, midway through the first half. Another Warren basket had the Bucs on top 23-18, their biggest lead of the opening frame.

The Bulldogs took their turn for a run next, outscoring the Bucs 7-2 over a five minute stretch to tie the game at 27-27, with 1:06 remaining in the half. CSU capitalized on a UNCA technical foul towards the end of the half, with Warren hitting a pair of free throws to make it a 29-27 score at the intermission.

The Bucs held the lead in the early minutes of the second half, going up 34-31 on a monster dunk by Martin at the 16:15 mark. UNCA bounced back to take their first lead of the second frame, with a 37-36 advantage and 14:01 on the clock.

That basket for the Bulldogs started a 10-0 run, capped off by a D.J. Cunningham layup to go up 45-36 with 11:18 remaining in regulation. After trailing 49-41, CSU surged for a 9-4 run to narrow the margin to 53-50 with 5:46 on the clock. Two Warren free throws put the lead back in CSU's favor with a 56-55 score at the 2:44 mark. The Bucs led by as many as five with a 61-56 advantage and less than a minute on the clock.

Despite two Kenny Mitchell free throws, UNCA scored seven points in the final minute of regulation, including a Matt Dickey three point play with 16 seconds on the clock. Both teams had a shot to end the game in regulation, but a CSU turnover and Bulldog missed three sent it to overtime with a 63-63 score.

The overtime period was an offensive explosion for both teams, starting with a Quinard Jackson layup. A Warren three and layup brought the score to 69-68, with UNCA holding the slight advantage at the 2:40 mark.

Another dunk and three point play from Martin had the Bucs on top 71-69, but the Bulldogs took back the lead 72-71, with 1:34 remaining in the game. After trading leads again, Sexton hit the final go ahead basket, with a three that put CSU up for good, 76-74 with 34 seconds left to play. Martin hit one of two free throws and a desperation three from UNCA fell short to make the final score 77-74.

CSU will be back in action next week, when the play host to the High Point Panthers on Thursday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m.