CHARLESTON, S.C. – Wednesday night, the Charleston Southern Buccaneers suited up against the Eagles of Winthrop University.
On January 15th, CSU faced off against the Eagles in Rock Hill in their home, the Winthrop Coliseum. The ball game went into triple-overtime and was labeled by many as a Big South classic battle. In the January contest, the Buc trio of RJ Johnson (30), Daylen Berry (23), and Taje' Kelly (22) scored a combined 75 points.
In the February rematch, Berry and Kelly would once again cross the 20+ point threshold. Johnson however, took an intense hit to the face with 12:15 remaining in the first-half and did not return to the floor. The offensive facilitation, defensive consistency, and dependable leadership from the Bucs' Preseason All-Conference guard was certainly missed in the final 32 minutes of regulation.
Winthrop entered the halftime locker room with a 33-25 lead, and in half number two, the brakes would never be hit as they would shoot over 60% from the floor (20-33). Led by Kelton Talford, who only played 8 minutes in the triple-overtime contest (injury), and his 20-point, 8-rebound night, Winthrop would take the 83-65 victory.
The man who has consistently produced essentially all season for Charleston Southern is senior Taje' Kelly. Kelly finished a rebound shy of a 27-point double-double Wednesday evening. Behind Kelly in the scoring column was Daylen Berry. Coming off a career-high scoring performance (28) last Saturday vs Longwood, Berry returned to the Buc Dome Wednesday with a 21-point showing. Another silver lining for the Bucs on the stat sheet was from true freshman guard, Keenan Wilkins. Wilkins, who played an increased role in RJ Johnson's absence (29 minutes), did so without committing a single turnover – a rare, and promising statistic for the young ball handler.
The best part about losing in conference play is you know the opportunity to win is right around the corner, and CSU has just that opportunity. Saturday afternoon (2 PM) on ESPN+, the Buccaneers will lace their Nike sneakers back up, this time in Paul Porter Arena, home of the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs. The Bucs won contest number one against GW, and the opportunity to sweep the Red and Black is now on the horizon.
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