CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern staged a 16-3 run to break open a tightly contested game midway through the second half, and dominated the final ten minutes to register an 83-72 win over Coastal Carolina at the Buc Dome on Wednesday. The victory over the rival Chanticleers puts the Bucs in a four-way tie atop the Big South standings, with five regular season games remaining.

CSU (15-9, 9-4 Big South) and Coastal Carolina (17-8, 8-5 Big South) exchanged 20 leads and were tied 11 times over the contest's first 30 minutes before the Bucs took control. Senior Saah Nimley led the way yet again, tallying 20 of his 24 points after halftime as CSU shot 64 percent in the second half. Will Saunders added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Aaron Wheeler chipped in 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cedrick Bowen posted 11 points.

Arlon Harper contributed an excellent all-around effort with nine points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocked shots. Harper helped key the Bucs' defense late, as CSU strung together several timely stops during its 16-3 push and held Coastal to 41 percent shooting overall.

Nimley continued to show why he is one of the best players in Charleston Southern history, and a front-runner for Big South Player of the Year. He ran off nine markers during the momentum grabbing 16-3 run, and connected on 5-of-6 three-point attempts in the second half. Nimley buried a deep three to knot the score at 55 apiece with 10:02 left, and sailed through another moments late to up CSU's advantage to five. Saunders notched a three-point play off an offensive rebound to cap the spurt, and Coastal never drew closer than eight the rest of the way.

Nimley has now scored over 20 points 12 times this season, and 35 times in his career. His 1,700 career points put him just seven shy of passing Brett Larrick (1993-1997) for third-most in CSU history.

Charleston Southern assumed control of a tight game the same way it did Friday at Radford. The Bucs had lost their last three games to the Chanticleers by a combined 16 points, but made the winning plays late to secure a critical triumph in their quest for a second regular season conference title in three years.

"I thought the second half we played really well," CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh said afterward. "There was kind of a lull all-around and not a lot of rhythm in the first half on either side. In the second half, we played with a lot more energy, a lot more tenacity and we made some shots. It was a really big win for us."

"I'm so pleased with the way our guys fought and competed because it wasn't a pretty game," Radebaugh continued. "We played tough and as a team, and really executed in key moments to beat a good basketball team."

CSU was out-rebounded 25-13 in the first half, but rallied to out-rebound Coastal by eight after intermission. The Bucs out-scored the bigger Chanticleers, 30-26, in the paint and made numerous hustle plays to grind out a win.

Nimley's fifth and final trey of a monster second half gave CSU a 73-60 lead with 3:58 remaining. Saunders hit three of his triples in the first half, and tacked on a corner three to give the Bucs their biggest cushion of the night, 81-66, at the 1:56 mark.

Warren Gillis paced all scorers with 25 points for Coastal, and Elijah Wilson added 13. CSU held Coastal sixth man and leading scorer Josh Cameron completely in check. Cameron finished with just four points on 1-of-7 shooting in 13 minutes of play.

Neither side led by more than five points in a methodically – and at times, sloppy – played first half. Paul Gombwer scored CSU's first six points, and Bowen put in a bank shot from the post to account for an early 8-3 advantage.

Coastal's Michel Enanga connected on a three to give Coastal its first lead, 13-12, with 12:30 left in the opening period. Gillis tallied nine of his points in the first half to pace Coastal, and highlighted his damage with a tough fade-away jumper in the paint.

Saunders gave CSU a five-point lead with a transition three off a pretty feed from Nimley, but Coastal scored eight of the final 11 points of the stanza to take a 33-32 lead into halftime.

CSU hits the road Saturday to take on Longwood. Tipoff in Farmville, Va. is set for 5 p.m.