Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern sprinted out to a 40-6 first half lead and made head coach Barclay Radebaugh the winningest coach in program history with a 92-50 victory over Erskine on Monday night at the Buc Dome. CSU (2-0) held Erskine to 29 percent shooting and led by as many as 46 points to win their 11th straight home opener, and remain unblemished under Radebaugh in such games.
CSU returned home off one of the biggest wins in school history Friday over Ole Miss, and was energized from the opening tipoff against an overmatched Erskine (0-3) team. The Bucs hit 15 of their first 20 shots from the field, and overwhelmed the Flying Fleet with tight, pressure man-to-man defense. CSU forced 19 turnovers, led 48-21 at halftime and ripped off a 12-2 run to open the second half and completely blow open the game.
Senior forward Will Saunders tallied a team-high 17 points while connecting on five three-pointers. Classmate Paul Gombwer recorded his eighth career double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds, pacing the Bucs to a 49-25 advantage on the glass.
Radebaugh was pleased with his team's strong start and defensive effort just three days after an emotional 66-65 overtime win at Ole Miss. The win over Erskine, Radebaugh's 122nd as Charleston Southern head coach, moved him past Gary Edwards as the winningest coach in the program's 50-year history.
"We played really well for the first seven or eight minutes and were very efficient on the defensive end," Radebaugh said. "Then we lost our focus and didn't concentrate quite as well. We had some good spurts in the second half."
"Our defense held pretty well for most of the night," Radebaugh said of a CSU effort that held a second straight opponent below 31 percent shooting. "Sometimes Division II schools can go really small and use their speed and have four or five dribblers and passers so it can be a challenge. We got our hands in some passing lanes and forced a few shot-clock violations. We lost our concentration in some stretches, but I give our guys a lot of credit because those first ten minutes or so was really special."
Cedrick Bowen scored on a layup to start the opening onslaught, collecting two more points after scoring two of the biggest in school history to lift the Bucs over Ole Miss on Friday. Freshman guard Danny Upchurch came off the bench to hit a three, and Saunders knocked down two in a row from the left corner to quickly stake CSU to a 17-6 lead at the 14:42 mark of the first half. Saunders' triples jumpstarted a 26-0 run that saw CSU hold Erskine scoreless for a 8:23 stretch of game time.
CSU junior Jabbar Washington came off the bench to collect his first points as a Buc with a corner three during the extended run. Saah Nimley and Gombwer added treys, while junior Reuben King was active on the boards with a pair of put backs. King was a factor off the bench, collecting ten rebounds to tie Gombwer for the team-lead.
Erskine strung together a 15-8 run to end the first half and crawl within 27 points at halftime, but CSU dominated the first ten minutes of the second to build a 79-33 lead.
Bowen and junior Aaron Wheeler scored four points each during the 12-2 run to start the second stanza, with Gombwer adding an emphatic right-handed dunk in transition.
Saunders pushed the lead to 65-27 with a two-handed flush off a feed from freshman Wesley Johnson, and Gombwer sailed through a three moments later to push the cushion to 40. Nimley added a not-your-everyday three-pointer several possessions later, as his intended alley oop pass for Javis Howard ended up going through for three of his eight points on the night.
Saunders pumped in his fifth and final three of the night to send CSU to an 88-50 advantage with 2:33 remaining. Wheeler and Bowen joined Saunders and Gombwer in double-figures scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Wheeler filled out the stat sheet in his first start as a Buc, posting seven assists, six rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot to go along with 11 points.
CSU now focuses its attention on a strong Wright State team that comes to Charleston on Saturday. Wright State defeated perennial mid-major power Belmont in its season opener and is 2-0 entering a matchup at Bowling Green on Wednesday. Radebaugh knows CSU will have to be sharp to move to 3-0 on the young season.
"Saturday is going to be a big-time challenge," Radebaugh said. "They're a program who has had multiple 20-win seasons. They are a really good program coming into our gym. I hope that come Saturday, we have an electric atmosphere like we had here tonight. Our starting lineup was electric tonight. It was fun. We want this to be a fun place to play basketball, a place you can have a good time and watch some good basketball from a good team."
Tipoff on Saturday against Wright State is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
