RICHMOND, Ky. – Five players finished the night in double figures, but a near triple-double from All-Big South guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. led the way as Charleston Southern downed Eastern Kentucky 76-69 Saturday night.

Fleming sat at nine points, five rebounds and six assists at the break and took over early in the second half finishing the night with 20 points, 11 boards and seven assists to go along with two blocks to help seal a win.

Charleston Southern (5-6) shot the lights out early knocking down 18 of their first 26 shots and seven of 12 from deep to create a 12-point margin over the home Colonels (3-9) at the break.

Sitting at a 14-all tie after both teams traded early buckets, the Bucs went on an 18-4 run to break the game open and led by as much as 16 before fending-off an Eastern Kentucky run over the closing moments.

CSU enters the Christmas holiday break at 3-1 in December and winners in four of their past five contests behind Fleming's third double-double of the season and a season-high five Bucs in double figures.

First Half

• After both teams traded buckets in the early stages, Charleston Southern used an 18-4 run to break a 14-all tie for a 32-18 advantage.
• The Bucs shot the lights out in the first half knocking down 18 of their 26 shots while hitting 7 of their 12 treys for 45 first-half points, their most since the opener versus Columbia International.
• Seven different Bucs found the scoring column in the opening 20 minutes led by a team-high 10 from Dontrell Shuler.
• Phlandrous Fleming Jr. was stuffing the stat sheet in the first 20 minutes scoring 9 points while grabbing 5 rebounds and handing out 6 assists.
• The CSU defense wasn't to be overshadowed in the first half either as they held Eastern Kentucky to just .294 from the floor and .267 from deep.
• The Bucs were able to break the Colonel's full-court press with ease most of the half scoring 18 points in the paint while knocking down multiple wide-open looks from three-point range.

Second Half

• Phlandrous Fleming took over in the second half scoring 11 of his game-high 20 points to lead five Bucs in double figures.
• CSU would extend their lead to as much as 16 in the final 20 minutes but the Colonels wouldn't go away as they cut to a 5-point margin at 69-64 with 2:56 to play.
• The Bucs shot .409 in the second half to finish the contest at .563 – a new season-high mark for a road contest.

News and Notes

• CSU shot a season-high .692 in the first half knocking down seven treys and scoring 45 points
• Five of the seven Bucs that found the scoring column had at least six points at the break as it was a hot-shooting night to start for all who touched the ball
• Dontrell Shuler continued his scoring dominance reaching double figures for the ninth time this season in 10 games
• Phlandrous Fleming came just three assists shy of a triple-double finishing the night with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for his third double-double effort of the season.
• CSU has won four of five games entering the Holiday break and three of their past four road contests while beginning December at 3-1 overall.
• The win Saturday night was the first against Eastern Kentucky in three tries and guarantees a winning record for the month of December with just one more contest at home after the break.

Up Next
Charleston Southern gets a seven-day Holiday break before entertaining Piedmont International to close the book on nonconference play while opening a stretch of four home contests within a 14-day span. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. on ESPN+ from Buccaneer Field House.