’Dogs defense bites Bucs as winning streak continues

Kareem Reid (14) drives inside for Gardner-Webb in Runnin’ Bulldogs victory over Charleston Southern. (Photo by Jermichael White/Gardner-Webb Athletics)

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Charleston Southern Buccaneers came in riding high after a road upset over Longwood, but one bite from the Runnin’ Bulldogs and their defense sent them crashing back to earth.

Gardner-Webb’s Kareem Reid scored 15 points, as did Anthony Selden, as GWU extended its winning streak to four games with a 67-59 win over Charleston Southern Wednesday evening.

“Charleston Southern is the top team in the league in offense and offensive efficiency,” head coach Tim Craft said. “We held them under 60 points, which is just a credit to our guys and how they were locked in tonight.”

DQ Nicholas continued his hot shooting from the last game with an early three, and a dunk from Selden gave Gardner-Webb a 7-5 lead. Claudell Harris, Jr. (13 points) answered with a three for CSU, but Quest Aldridge answered with a triple of his own to keep the visitors in front, 12-10. GWU pushed out to as much as a six-point lead, but the Bucs got threes from RJ Johnson and Tahlik Chavez to cut the deficit to 21-20. The teams kept trading buckets until Aldridge hit a three falling away from the bucket to put his team up 28-24 at the final media stoppage of the half. The lead grew to as many as 10 thanks to a nice post move by Selden. After Charleston Southern ended the run with a three, Selden scored again in the post to give Gardner-Webb a 36-27 lead at the intermission.

CSU opened the second half on a 6-0 run before Reid snapped the streak with an emphatic dunk. Even so, the Bucs had pulled to within 39-35. Nicholas answered with four straight points, and by the time Selden converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, the Runnin’ Bulldogs equaled their largest lead of 10 at 49-39 with 10:51 left in the contest.

GWU continued to push its lead out and by the time Lucas Stieber hit a triple, the visitors had their largest lead of 15, at 59-44. Harris tried to rally the hosts with an alley-oop dunk and Chavez converted a rare 4-point play to pull CSU to within seven points. Harris hit another three in the final moments, but Gardner-Webb hit enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

CRAFT NEARS THE CENTURY MARK: With the victory, Craft notched his 99th career Big South win, moving past Cliff Ellis for fifth all-time in the league.

“That just means I have been around the Big South a long time,” Craft said. “It makes me feel old, but I think it speaks to the consistency of the program and the great players we have had over the years.”

ROAD WARRIORS: The Runnin’ Bulldogs are now 4-1 in road games during Big South play, which is tops in the conference.

“To win in this league, you have to have a really connected group,” Craft said. “I think our tough schedule in non-conference play and then the fact that we had some close losses on the road really brought the team closer together, and then they figured out how to win in tough environments.”

REID ALL  ABOUT IT: Reid continues to be a force in the paint. Coming into the contest, he was averaging nearly 11 points and just over five rebounds per game.

“I feel like my game has developed a lot since my freshman year,” Reid said. “I’m just out there doing my best to help the team win. We just have to keep this thing going.”

UP NEXT: GWU (12-11.7-4 Big South) returns home looking for a season sweep of Presbyterian Saturday. Meanwhile, CSU (8-14, 4-7 Big South) travels to High Point.