CHARLESTON, S.C. – Saah Nimley and Will Saunders give Charleston Southern one of the best three-point shooting duos in the country.  They put that on display in a big way Wednesday against Liberty, burying seven threes apiece to lead CSU to an 80-58 win at the Buc Dome. CSU knocked down 17 threes as a team, matching a single-game program record against Division I opponents.

Nimley tallied a career-high 30 points to lead CSU (9-7, 3-2 Big South) yet again. Saunders recorded his second career double-double, finishing with 22 points and ten rebounds. The pair combined to connect on 14-of-25 three-point tries, as the Bucs made 10-of-16 from downtown after halftime to blow open a game they led by eight at intermission.

CSU assisted 19 of its 25 made shots, and converted 22 Liberty (6-12, 0-5 Big South) turnovers into 32 points to cruise to a second straight victory. The Bucs drilled six treys in just over five minutes during a 22-8 run that opened up a 57-40 advantage. CSU led by as many as 28 late in moving over the .500 mark in Big South play, with a trip to Presbyterian coming up on Saturday.

CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh was pleased with his team's second straight strong defensive effort, as well as its ability to execute against Liberty's zone defense in the second half.

"I thought the second half our team was fully engaged," Radebaugh said. "Our movement, offensive execution and unselfishness were terrific. I'm really proud of our defensive effort and on the boards as well to hold our own against a really big team. It was just a really good performance, particularly in the second half, and it's something we can certainly build on."

Nimley started on a tear, sinking three triples over the first 4:15 of the game to put CSU on top, 14-3. Liberty answered with seven straight points, and hung around to stay within 34-26 at halftime. The Flames limited the Bucs to 31 percent shooting in the first half, but CSU caught fire in the second half behind the duo of Nimley and Saunders. Nimley matched a career-high (set against Southern Miss in the 2013 NIT) in threes, while Saunders established a new career benchmark with his output.

Liberty closed its deficit to 35-32 at the 16:12 mark of the second half on an Andrew Smith layup, only to see CSU dominate the remainder of the contest. Saunders began the onslaught with threes on back-to-back possessions. Aaron Wheeler drove the lane for a runner, and Nimley, Arlon Harper and Jabbar Washington all sailed home threes to quickly up CSU's lead to 52-36 with 12:21 remaining.

A 12-0 CSU run closed Liberty out for good after the Flames trimmed the gap to 57-44 on a David Andoh jumper. Saunders drained two threes, and Nimley made yet another for the final nine points of the spurt. Nimley's last trey of the night pushed CSU's advantage to 72-46 with 4:18 on the clock, pushing past his previous career high of 27 points.

"The most impressive thing was the shots they made were open," said Radebaugh of Nimley and Saunders' torrid shooting. "That means some unsung heroes were doing work to get them those shots. We made a big effort to get Saah out of the creating role, against a matchup zone, and into a shooting role. Guys like Arlon and Aaron and Reuben had to work to get Saah shots. We had 19 assists, Arlon had six and we really did a good job of carrying out our game plan in the second half."

CSU is now 8-1 at home this year, and 62-17 since 2009, including 35-12 in Big South play. The Bucs visit Presbyterian on Saturday in Clinton. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.