Sumler scores 29 as Bucs rally past Bulldogs

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Gardner-Webb played its best half of the season in the opening 20 minutes Wednesday against Charleston Southern.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs led by as much as 17 points with 3:40 left in the first half, but A’lahn Sumler scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half as the Buccaneers rallied for an 89-79 at Paul Porter Arena.

“We are almost there,” an upbeat Jeremy Luther said. “I know everybody sees the 2-14 record and thinks ‘oh my gosh, this team sucks.’ But if you were in our practices or saw the first half today, you would never know we are 2-14. This team is a joy to coach and even though it’s been a long year with wins and losses, I still have faith that we will do good things.”

Both teams got off to a slow start in the contest, but Lase Olalere had a bucket to give CSU a 6-3 lead. Navuan Peterson ripped a pair of threes as the Runnin’ Bulldogs took their first lead at 11-10. Peterson stayed hot with another three and a driving layup, and his 13 early points saw GWU grab an 18-11 lead.

Spence Sims added a transition triple and Jacob Hogarth went to work in the paint with two straight buckets. Luke Williams hit a three for CSU, but Peterson scored again and Colin Hawkins converted a putback as GWU led, 38-22.

Hawkins followed with a three-point play as the lead grew to 17 points. CSU answered with a 7-0 run, all from the foul line, but Sims hit a three from the corner and Hogarth scored in the post to push the lead to 46-34 at the half.

Brycen Blaine opened the second half with a three-point play, and by the time Sumler hit a trey and Blaine hit another, CSU was in the middle of a 13-5 run and trailed by just four, at 51-47. Williams then hit back-to-back threes as CSU took a 55-53 lead with 11:59 left in the game.

Hawkins stopped the bleeding with a fadeaway jumper, but Williams and Sumler hit threes on consecutive trips. GWU tried to stay in the game, but the defense could not come up with a stop as they trailed, 83-71, at the final media stoppage, thanks to another Sumler three.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs got as close as eight points over the final stretch, but fell, 89-79.

A Tale Of Two Halves: Charleston Southern shot a blistering 58 percent from the floor in the second half, including 8-for-13 from beyond the arc.

“I told the guys at halftime that they were going to hit us in the mouth, and they did,” Luther said. “CSU is a good team and they are an old team. They just won a money game at Richmond. Saah (Nimley) is a good coach, so you knew they wouldn’t give up. We are a young team and could not find that counter punch.”

“We had never been up by 17 against a D-1 team this year. When they made a run at us, we went back to old habits like we had most of the year after we had played so well in the first half. The good news is we will learn from this and hopefully this won’t happen again. I am so proud of the team.”

Peterson’s Fast Start: Navuan Peterson scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the first eight minutes of the game after getting the starting nod over Jacob Hogarth.

“That was a coach's decision,” Luther said. “It’s not that Jacob had done anything wrong, we just saw something schematically that we could take advantage of. Their five (center) does not like to come out and guard on the perimeter, and Navuan can shoot if he gets going, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Follow The Leaders: Sumler led CSU with 29 points, while Williams and Blaine chipped in with 16 and 15, respectively. Peterson led GWU with 17, while Hogarth chipped in with 15 off of the bench.

Up Next: Gardner-Webb will travel to Winthrop on Saturday at 4 p.m., while Charleston Southern will host UNC Asheville the same afternoon at 2 p.m.