CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern played one of its best halves of the season to take a 19-point lead into intermission, and led by as many as 27 in the second half of a thorough 68-54 win over Longwood at the Buc Dome on Saturday.

CSU (8-7, 2-2 Big South) used a 14-0 run to break open a tight game, and shot 62 percent in the first half while limiting Longwood (5-12, 1-3 Big South) to 30 percent shooting. Saah Nimley hit a pair of three-pointers early in the second half to push the Bucs' advantage to 27, and paced a stellar effort from the senior class with 18 points and eight assists.

Will Saunders and Cedrick Bowen added 14 points each, and Arlon Harper chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Paul Gombwer pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as CSU tallied a 41-29 advantage on the glass. Longwood was led by 14 points from Quincy Taylor but was stifled all night by long by a CSU defensive effort that limited the Lancers to 33 percent shooting.

Playing its fourth game in eight days, CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh received contributions from up and down his roster. CSU pressured the basketball throughout in one of its sharper defensive showings of the campaign, played 11 players and got lifts from both Reuben King and Jabbar Washington at times in the first half.

"We played really hard and really well in the first half," Radebaugh said. "Longwood's a good team and we were able to come out and get off to a good start which was huge. Our guys showed a lot of courage being the fourth game in eight days, and played with great intensity. We showed our potential offensively in the first half and it was as well as we've played at any point this season. They earned a day off tomorrow."

The opening ten minutes of action was back-and-forth, with five ties and eight lead changes. Longwood trailed by only a point, 22-21, following a Shaquille Johnson three with 9:07 left in the first half. CSU took control from there with a 14-0 run. Four different players scored during the crucial spurt, and the Bucs kept Longwood off the scoreboard for 5:05 of game time.

King started the run with a layup off one of Nimley's six first half assists. Nimley knocked down a pull-up jumper, Bowen converted in the paint twice and Saunders buried a pair of triples, the second of which staked CSU to a 36-21 lead. Saunders swished home another three to send CSU into halftime in front 48-29, capping off a perfect 5-of-5 first half that saw the London native drill three treys.

CSU continued its onslaught in the first three minutes of the second half. Nimley connected on back-to-back triples in a span of 37 seconds and King corralled an offensive rebound and powered inside for two. The Bucs struggled to make shots for the rest of the second half but kept the Lancers under wraps offensively, holding Longwood to 36 percent shooting.

"The second half we were exhausted and it showed a little bit in the shots we missed," Radebaugh said. "We executed well but just didn't' make shots. We really needed to get off to a good start early in the second half because we didn't have our legs left. These kids have definitely earned a day off and then we'll get back to it to get ready for Liberty."

Charleston Southern remains at home to square off against Liberty on Wednesday. Tipoff at the Buc Dome is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.