CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Southern men's basketball team knocked down 10-of-25 from three-point range and converted 19 College of Charleston turnovers into 28 points, but it was not enough as the Cougars edged the Bucs, 70-68, on Saturday night at TD Arena.

CSU (6-4, 2-0) trailed by as many as 12 in the second half before rallying to tie the game at 68 on Kelvin Martin's right-handed runner with 44 seconds remaining. Martin poured in 14 of his points after halftime, staging another superb all-around effort to finish with seven rebounds, five steals, three blocks, and two assists.

College of Charleston's (9-1, 2-0) Antwaine Wiggins missed a three on the ensuing possession, but threw down a two-hand dunk off an offensive rebound by Trent Wiedeman to account for the game's final bucket with 10.2 seconds left. CSU called timeout and had a chance for the win, but Saah Nimley's corner three did not go down as the buzzer sounded.

Freshman Arlon Harper paced the Bucs in scoring for the second consecutive game, hitting for 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from downtown. Junior Mathiang Muo swished home five triples for 15 points before fouling out, while freshman guard Saah Nimley chipped in 10 to go with six assists.
Wiggins matched Harper with 18 points, and was joined in double figures by Cougar guards Anthony Stitt (16) and Andrew Lawrence (14). Wiggins also tallied a game-high 11 rebounds as College of Charleston bested CSU on the glass by a 48-36 count.

CSU won the battle in numerous statistical categories, outscoring CofC 32-20 in the paint, 22-9 off second chance opportunities, and 12-7 on the fast break. A pressure defense once again wreaked havoc on the opponent, as the Bucs racked up 28 points off turnovers, as opposed to just nine for the Cougars.

With the deficit at eight with 8:59 left to play, Barclay Radebaugh's club began their comeback with a 10-3 run to come within 65-64 on Harper's steal and dunk at the 4:58 mark. That followed an offensive rebound and slam from freshman center Greg Dorleus that sent the bench into a frenzy.

It was a tightly played contest from the start as the two teams traded both buckets and the lead for the first seven minutes of the half. An 8-0 scoring run by the Cougars put the Buccaneers down by seven, but Charleston Southern made three shots from downtown to cut the deficit to just a point with just under six to go in the half.

A pretty baseline spin move and layup by freshman forward Cedrick Bowen tied things up at 31-31 with under three to play in the first half but the Cougars used a Lawrence three-point play to put the Bucs in a four-point deficit at halftime.

Despite shooting just 37 percent (28-75) from the floor, the Bucs committed a season-low five turnovers and assisted 13 of their 28 made field goals. Not only did CSU's defense force 19 CofC turnovers, but they also induced five from Lawrence, who entered the week with the 15th best assist-turnover ration in the country. CSU's victory in the turnover margin produced a statistical rarity, as the Bucs attempted 25 more shots than the Cougars.

CSU continues a stretch of six road games in seven contests when they head to Deland, Fla. to take on the Stetson Hatters this Wednesday. The Bucs defeated the Atlantic Sun foe at the Buc Dome on November 21. Tip-off for the rematch is set for 7 p.m., with coverage beginning at 6:50 on 106.3 WJNI FM.