Charleston Southern tops UNC Asheville 79-78 in Big South

Updated: Mar 2, 2022, 07:24 pm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- — Taje' Kelly had a season-high 24 points, including the game-winning putback at the buzzer, as Charleston Southern narrowly beat UNC Asheville 79-78 in the first round of the Big South Conference Tourney on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs took a 78-77 lead on two free throws by Silas Mason with 6.8 seconds to play. Kelly inbounded the ball to Deontaye Buskey, who raced upcourt, drove down the lane and kicked to the right corner to Jamir Moore. Moore's shot bounced off the iron to Kelly for the winner.

Kelly made 11 of 14 shots. He added seven rebounds.

Buskey had 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Charleston Southern (6-24). Tahlik Chavez added 13 points. Claudell Harris Jr. had 10 points.

LJ Thorpe had 18 points for the Bulldogs (16-14). Drew Pember added 16 points. Tajion Jones had 11 points and eight rebounds.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com