BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Charleston Southern engineered a 21-0 run spanning both halves and delivered a smothering second half performance to overpower Campbell, 86-57, at Gore Arena on Saturday. The Bucs matched the program single-season record for Big South wins and remain tied atop the league standings, with High Point, with two games remaining.

CSU (18-9, 12-4 Big South) registered its fifth straight win with one of its most complete showings of the campaign. The Bucs rattled off the final nine points of the opening stanza to take a 39-32 lead into halftime, and tacked on 12 more after intermission to push the advantage to 19. The run swelled to 38-4, with Saah Nimley's spinning floater providing a 68-36 edge with 9:34 remaining.

CSU held Campbell (9-20, 3-13 Big South) scoreless for 8:32 of game time during its run of 21 straight points, and limited the Fighting Camels to 1-of-16 shooting to start the second half. Campbell shot just 34 percent overall, and was harassed into 15 turnovers. CSU blanked Campbell, 24-0, in points off turnovers.

Will Saunders tallied a career-high 26 points to power the charge offensively while connecting on 6-of-8 three-pointers. He added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Saunders' two-handed dunk on a fast break provided one of many highlights in the runaway victory.

"We knew we had to come out and get after it in the second half because they weren't going to lay down for us," Saunders said afterward. "Our main focus was not settling, and coming out with the same intensity we had at the end of first half. We stayed with our principles defensively and made the right plays on offense. We are focusing on one game at a time but we know what's on the line and it's been our goal all year so we need to keep our mindset and we'll be in good shape."

Nimley added 25 points and seven rebounds, and Arlon Harper went for 12 of his 14 in the first half to set the tone on the road for the second straight week. Paul Gombwer played one of his better overall games of the year, corralling a game-high eight rebounds to go along with four points and four steals.

CSU remains in control of its own destiny for a second Big South regular season championship in three years. The Bucs travel to Gardner-Webb Thursday, before hosting co-leader High Point on Saturday.

"Campbell is a real challenge to prepare for, and our guys did a great job defensively in the second half," CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh said. "We played some excellent basketball and now turn our attention to a really good Gardner-Webb team and a big challenge on the road."

There were four ties and eight lead changes over the first 16 minutes of the game, before CSU assumed full control with perhaps its best prolonged stretch of the year. Andrew Ryan, who paced Campbell with 12 points, hit a three to put the Camels up 32-30 with 3:37 left in the first half. Campbell would not score again until the 15:05 mark of the second.

Harper converted one of his three steals into a layup to start the juncture, and swished home a pull-up jumper to put the Bucs in front for good. Saunders made two free throws, and Nimley buried three from deep on the right wing just in front of the buzzer to send CSU into the locker room up by seven.

Harper started the second half barrage with another jumper, and found a trailing Saunders for one of his six triples to stake CSU to a 46-32 advantage. Saunders drilled another three off a drive-and-kick by Nimley to cap the 21-0 run and send the lead to 51-32.

D.J. Mason powered to the bucket for two to finally end the run, but CSU proceeded to post ten more points in arrow. Nimley began that swing with a three, and combined with Saunders to tally all ten of the markers over the period. Saunders was fouled going up for a dunk on one possession, but got another chance moments later and put down a two-hand slam off a transition look from Harper.

Saunders gave the Bucs their first 30-point lead with a corner trey, and went past his career-high in scoring with another from way out on the left wing to push the cushion to 81-46 at the 3:13 mark.

Nimley has now scored 20 or more points 14 times this season, and is just seven assists away from passing Ed O'Neil as the Bucs' all-time leader. Harper moved into sixth place on Charleston Southern's career scoring list, and is just seven points away from fifth place. He needs five steals to tie former teammate Kelvin Martin for tenth-most in Big South history.

CSU goes for a season-long six-game winning streak and a sweep of Gardner-Webb on Thursday. Tipoff at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C. is set for 7 p.m. The Bucs have clinched a top-five seed and first-round bye in the Big South Tournament, which begins March 4 at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. The quarterfinal round is slated for Friday, March 6.