ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Jamarco Warren moved into the Big South's all-time top ten in career scoring, but his feat wasn't enough to push the CSU men's basketball team past Asheville as the Bucs fell to the Bulldogs 77-69 on Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center in Asheville, N.C.

Warren's 22 points move him into second place in CSU history in all-time scoring and into ninth place in BSC history in the same category with 1,760 career points.

The Bucs, who are now 11-10 overall and 5-4 in the BSC, shot 41.4 percent from the field and looked more like themselves at the free-throw line, going 15-of-18 for 83.3 percent. Warren again led all players in scoring, and hit four of his eight 3-point attempts. Kelvin Martin had 16 points and six rebounds as him and Warren combined for six of the team's ten steals.

Kenny Mitchell led the rebounding effort with nine on the night and added in nine points as well. The Bucs lost the battle of the boards, 29-38, to the Bulldogs.

Matt Dickey and Jaron Lane, with 14 and 13 points respectively, were just two of five Asheville players to score in double figures. Quinard Jackson, J.P. Primm and Chris Stephenson each had eleven points for the Bulldogs, who put up 52 of their points from inside the paint. UNCA shot 52.7 percent from the field and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Warren sunk two free-throws to start the scoring off, tying former Buccaneer Brett Larrick for second all-time in CSU scoring history as he made the second one. Asheville also picked up their first point at the charity stripe as Quinard Jackson made 1-of-2. Johathan Brooks scored the first field goal for either team with 18:18 remaining in the first half. The Bucs took control of the early minutes, working their way to an 8-3 lead on a layup by Sexton less than three minutes into the contest.

It was then Asheville's turn to take control of the game, as they Bulldogs went on a 15-2 scoring run to take a 18-10 lead before a trey by Sexton cut it down to five. Dickey was fouled making a layup and sunk the ensuing free-throw to put the score at 23-15 in favor of UNCA before the Bucs picked up four straight at the free-throw line. However, the Bulldogs continued to dominate the paint, picking up their next eight points inside.

CSU started to mount a comeback, going on a 9-3 run in the closing minutes of the first half. A trip to the free-throw line in the last minute put Asheville up by six as the Bulldogs closed out the half with a 37-31 lead.

Martin cut the lead to four with an early second-half layup, but his effort was negated by a three-pointer by Dickey for the Bulldogs. More buckets from inside the paint, as well as a traditional 3-point play from Lane stretched the CSU deficit to 13 points with just over 12 minutes remaining in the second half. Though Warren was able to hit another trey, the Bucs sent Asheville to the line for four points in the next three minutes to keep the Bulldogs ahead by ten.

Two at the charity stripe from Martin brought the Bucs within nine, and another from Sexton soon after kept it there. Sexton then hit a three to cut the deficit to eight, and a dunk by Martin after a steal cut it to six with just over four minutes left. Sheldon Strickland picked up three on a layup and the ensuing free-throw as the Bucs came within three with two and a half minutes to go in the game.

Primm hit the line for two to take the UNCA lead back up to five, but Warren sunk both of a 1-and-1 to cut the deficit to three once again. Primm was again sent to the line, making both to make it at least a two possession game with just under two minutes to go. Warren hit a big three with 90 seconds left as the Bucs came within to at 71-69. However, the Bucs suffered a defensive breakdown in the final minute of the game, allowing a dunk and two layups from the Bulldogs as Charleston Southern suffered its second consecutive loss at 77-69.

The Buccaneers will hit the road again next weekend, heading to Radford, Va., for a second contest with the Highlanders on January 27 at 7 p.m. They will then head to High Point, N.C., to take on the Panthers in another evening contest on January 29. CSU defeated both teams earlier in the season.