HIGH POINT, N.C. – #7 Charleston Southern had their 2023-2024 season ended in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Hercules Tires Big South Championships on Friday night by a final score of 60-55 to #2 UNC Asheville. The game came down to the wire with a late push by the Bulldogs giving them the win.

Charleston Southern did exactly what they looked to do early in the game on the defensive end of the court, generating stops on nearly each of the Bulldogs' first ten possessions of the game. Additionally, they set the tone of the game early, forcing contact in the block and earning trips to the free throw line and swiping the ball loose on Asheville's drive to the bucket.

The physicality led to a low-scoring start to the game with each team checking in at under 30% from the field for most of the opening 20 minutes. The Bucs got their first lead since 12:12 in the first half at the 3:30 mark as DJ Patrick converted on three free throws on the Bucs' next possession to put them ahead at 20-18. The Bulldogs caught life late, scoring the final 11 points of the half and leading 29-20 at the break.

At the start of the second half, the Bulldogs were able to open the half with a dunk and stretch their lead to 11, the biggest of the game. However, the Buccaneers found their shooting touch immediately after and flipped their deficit into a lead. The basket that swung it was by Taje' Kelly as drilled his third shot from behind the arc of the night for a new career-high, putting the Bucs ahead 38-36 with 13:12 to play.

Charleston Southern continued to roll during the stretch bumping their lead up to six, and then nine at 49-40 continuing a 21-4 scoring run over eight minutes of play going into the under eight media.

UNC Asheville got their groove back and were able to go on a run of their own to bring it back even, this time at 52 apiece with 2:37 to play. Kelly got his 25th point, a career-best, of the night as he scored late in the clock to put Charleston Southern back ahead at 54-52, but the edge did not last for long as Drew Pember knocked in a shot from deep to put the Bulldogs ahead 55-54.

The score was the same with 18 seconds left, where Pember knocked down a three pointer to extend the lead to 58-54 to force a Buccaneer timeout. With under 10 seconds left, Kelly was able to draw a foul and get to the free throw line. He knocked down the first and missed the second. Asheville got the rebound with just under three seconds left and drew a foul. They went on to knock down both of their free throws to take the win. 

After the loss, Charleston Southern wraps up the 2023-24 season with a 10-20 (6-10 in conference) record.