Johnson goes for 31 as CSU extends Gardner-Webb skid to 6

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Charleston Southern’s R.J. Johnson had a career night at the expense of the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. Johnson scored a career-high 31 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc as the Buccaneers held off a late charge from to pick up a big 86-74 win Wednesday night.

“He obviously had a big night,” head coach Tim Craft said of Johnson’s performance. “He is their leading scorer and a big part of our defensive game plan. He only takes about one three per game, but tonight, he took six and made all six. You have to tip your cap.” 

DQ Nicholas gave the hosts an early 5-2 lead with a deep three, and Julien Soumaoro also connected on a triple as the Runnin’ Bulldogs led, 8-6. Soumaoro hit another trey as part of a 5-0 run, but the Bucs went on a run of their own to lead 20-15 midway through the half, after a 12-2 spurt. Quest Aldridge and Caleb Robinson steadied things with threes, but CSU kept a working margin. A Nicholas layup cut the deficit to three, but the Bucs finished the half on a 6-0 run to lead, 39-30. 

CSU opened the second half with a three-pointer, but Ademide Badmus sparked a 6-0 Gardner-Webb run with four quick points, He picked up his third foul and exited the contest. after which CSU pushed its lead back to double digits. Eventually, that lead grew to 54-39 with 13:15 left in the game. The advantage ballooned to 64-44 midway through the second half. 

Gardner-Webb went to a press after making baskets from that point and began to chip away at the advantage. The deficit shrunk all the way to eight points at the final media timeout, but CSU hit its free throws down the stretch to keep the hosts at bay.

“I’m proud of the team for not quitting,” Craft said. “Down by 20 they could have, but we went to the press to try to get back in the game and we did. The guys gave it everything they had, but in the end, it just was not enough.” 

A TROUBLING TREND: For the second game in a row, Gardner-Webb, a team that prides itself on defense, gave up at least 80 points and allowed an opponent to shoot nearly 50 percent from the floor. 

“I’ll have to look at the game film to see exactly what happened, but I can tell you we did not defend very well,” Craft assessed. “That is something we will have to fix if we want to win basketball games.”

A SIX-GAME SLIDE: GWU (5-12, 0-2 Big South) has now lost six games in a row. 

“You know, the other five, we were the underdogs, but still very competitive and felt like we had a chance to win at least some of those,” Craft said. “We still felt pretty good about where the team was at. This one hurts because this was one we were supposed to win at home and didn’t. The locker room is really dejected right now, but I still like the makeup of this team. It’s a good group. The leaders on this team will come into practice tomorrow, lift everyone back up and be ready to go for the next one.”

UP NEXT: GWU will look to rebound when the Runnin’ Bulldogs host Presbyterian on Saturday, while Charleston Southern will also host USC Upstate the same afternoon.