CHARLESTON, S.C. - A tying three-point by attempt Charleston Southern's Arlon Harper with 27 seconds left to play came up short as the College of Charleston held off a furious late rally by the Buccaneers in a 72-67 win in front of a sold out crowd at the Buc Dome on Wednesday night.

CSU roared back from a 14-point deficit with 5:30 to play to cut the lead to 70-67 in the final minute, Harper's shot for the tie bounced off the front of the rim and College of Charleston knocked down a pair of free throw to seal the win.

For highlights of the game click here.

CSU falls to 1-5 in the loss, while College of Charleston moves to 4-2 with the win.

CSU guards Saah Nimley and Arlon Harper each led the Bucs with 20 points, while College of Charleston countered with 18 points from Andrew Lawrence and Anthony Stitt.

The game was a back-and-forth war which was tied at 41-41 at the half and again was a jumper shy of being tied in the final seconds. College of Charleston used a large rebounding edge and near perfection at the free throw line to overcome the gritty Bucs and a raucous CSU crowd.

"College of Charleston is a very good basketball team and they have bought into what Doug (Wojcik) is trying to do," CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh said following the game. "With that being said, congratulations to our team. We absolutely busted our tail. We did everything we could possibly try to do to win that game outside of shooting the ball. The shots are going to fall."

CSU fell behind early as Lawrence connected on two long three-pointers. He was also perfect to carry the Cougars offense. College of Charleston shot 46 percent for the game and was 13-of-15 at the free throw line to hold off the Bucs in the waning seconds. Their physical play early set the tone.

"[College of Charleston] is hard to guard," Radebaugh said. "They have inside presence and Andrew Lawrence is a pro."

College of Charleston took control early in the first set, going up 10-2 following an opening run where Anthony Stitt and Willis Hall hit three-pointers as the Cougars built an early lead. Charleston Southern rallied back with a 9-2 run of their own as Arlon Harper drove in for a pair of layups, while Paul Gombwer hit a three-pointer as CSU brought the game back to within one at 12-11 with 15:45 to play in the first half.

The lead stretched out to double-digits twice more in the first half as Nori Johnson hit a layup for the visitors at the 11:59 mark to put the score at 21-11, while Hall hit a jumper in the paint at the 8:57 mark to put the score at 25-15 in favor of the Cougars.

The Buccaneers continued to chip away at the lead as Harper continued a first half stretch where the sophomore scored a team-high 11 points over the first 20 minutes , cutting the lead down to three points at 27-24 by converting the old-fashioned three-point play with a layup and free throw with 5:59 remaining in the half.

Saah Nimley connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key to bring the game back to within one at 30-29 and followed a pair of free throws by Adjehi Baru with a driving layup to keep the score within one at 32-31 with 4:29 to play.

Harper followed the Nimley drive with a layup of his own to give the Bucs their first lead of the game at the 3:52 mark as the teams battled through three ties and two lead changes over the final four minutes of the half.

Nimley gave the Buccaneers the lead with 21 ticks remaining in the first half, pulling up and hitting a jumper from 15 feet out, but Baru answered as time expired on the other end for the Cougars with a turnover jumper in the paint to send the teams into the locker room knotted at 41-all.

Harper opened up the second half with a free throw for the Buccaneers, but CofC answered with the next 13 points as Andrew Lawrence connected on a pair of three-pointers including one with the shot clock expiring, while Stitt also connected from behind the arc as the Cougars went up 54-42 with 15:38 remaining in the game. Cedrick Bowen broke the Cougars run with a driving layup for the Bucs, but Anthony Thomas followed the next trip down the court with a jumper in the paint to keep the Cougars lead at 12.

College of Charleston built their largest lead of the second half at 14 with 5:34 to play as Stitt connected on a pair of free throws as the Cougars went up 66-52.

CSU battled back from the free throw line as Mathiang Muo hit a pair of free throws, Nimley added three and a layup, while Harper connected on a layup and free throw as the Bucs used a 12-0 run spanning three minutes to bring the game back to within one possession at 66-64 following a Harper free throw with 2:10 left on the clock.

After Lawrence converted a pair of free throws, Harper followed with a three-pointer with 41 ticks left in the game to put the score at 68-67 in favor of the guests.

Following a pair of Lawrence free throws, CSU had two opportunities to tie the game, but Harper's second three-point attempt was deflected by Baru and collected by the Cougars. Lawrence converted a pair of free throws on the other end to close out the game with the 72-67 victory

Bucs' forward Allie Fullah added a career high eight points and a four blocked shots, both career highs, in the game.

Harper finished 8-of-16 from the floor, while Nimley was 7-of-13. The two combined to go only 2-of-13 from three-point range.

Adjehi Baru and Willis Hall each had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars.

CSU still struggled to find its shooting stroke from beyond the arc, finishing 3-of-19.

Charleston Southern remains at home this weekend as the Buccaneers welcome Barber Scotia College to the Buc Dome on Saturday, December 1st. Tipoff between CSU and the Sabers is set for 5:30 p.m.

CSU answered back with Nimley and Harper. The duo had CofC on its heels in the final minutes, but simply ran out of game clock.

Harper drilled a fade-away three with 41 seconds left to cut the lead to one, the closest it had been since CofC opened the second half with a 13-1 run, but the Bucs couldn't get over the hump.

"It's a long season and it's about the big picture," Radebaugh added. "We've put these guys through a gauntlet. No body in the Big South is playing that schedule. It will help us in the long run. That's as good as it gets at Charleston Southern. That's a big time. I just want it to continue. There's so much school spirit and so much pride in this basketball team right now."