HIGH POINT, N.C. – Charleston Southern traveled to North Carolina and battled High Point on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd in the Quebin Center. The Buccaneers found themselves in foul trouble for most of the night and it proved costly down the stretch with the team falling 86-79, going toe-to-toe with the conference leaders.
The visiting Buccaneers were the first ones to find the bucket in the game with
Taje' Kelly scoring on CSU's first possession of the night after they secured the tip. High Point quickly found their shooting touch and were ahead by double digits less than six minutes in. The teams continued to trade shots, but a late 10-2 CSU run in the final 2:30 of the half brought the Bucs back into the game with them trailing at 47-38.
At the start of the second, the teams continued to shoot at a high clip, with each team drawing contact to earn trips to the free throw line. At the 17:41 mark, CSU trailed 56-44, but started to piece together a 13-0 scoring run over the next three minutes to put the Bucs back on top. This marked the team's first lead since the first minute of the game.
At this point, the teams went back and forth with the lead as the teams battled for every point for the next 13 minutes. Foul trouble, however, started to become a true issue for the Buccaneers as
Jaiden Thompson and
A'lahn Sumler each fouled out, leaving the seven-man rotation with just five players left. When Thompson got his fifth, the score was 75 apiece with just under four minutes to play.
High Point's Kezza Giffa was the one to draw the foul on an and-one that put the Panthers up for good as the team was able to hold on for the victory.
Kelly and Johnson each scored 25 on the night with Kelly's marking a new career high. Kelly went 8-18 from the field while Johnson was 9-20. Kelly led the team in rebounding with eight and Johnson did in assists as he had four. Johnson never left the court, playing all 40 minutes of the action for the first time in his career. Sumler finished the day with 14 points, connecting on a pair of shots from deep.
Reginald Duhart Jr. lead the team in blocks as he finished the day with three to tie a season high.
Both teams were able to get plenty of chances at the charity stripe and shot at an incredible level from there. CSU finished 21-27 (77.8%) while HPU was 26-33 (78.8%) at it. The Panthers created their separation on the offensive glass with 16 boards there and turned it into 23 second chance points.
Charleston Southern returns to action on Wednesday inside the Buc Dome for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against Winthrop. The Eagles entered last week at 4-0 in league play but are coming off back-to-back losses while the Bucs look to move back to .500 in the Big South. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
