CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern stayed unbeaten at home, defeating the Winthrop Eagles 57-54 Monday, at the CSU Field House. The win snapped a 17 game losing streak vs. the Eagles, dating back to a 55-53 overtime win on January 24, 2002. Prior to the game, Winthrop was the only team in the Big South that a Barclay Radebaugh team had not beaten. With the victory the Bucs got back to the .500 mark with a 7-7 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the conference. The Eagles dropped to 5-9 and 1-3 in league play.

Jeremy Sexton led the way for CSU with 19 points on 7-10 shooting, including a 5-7 mark from three point range. Kelvin Martin also reached double figures with 10 points and eight rebounds. Kenny Mitchell chipped in with some key baskets off the bench, tallying nine points and six rebounds. Winthrop put three in double figures, led by Robbie Dreher, who posted 13 points on 5-14 shooting.

Martin scored the first two baskets of the game, helping CSU to jump out to a 4-0 advantage. The Bucs played from in front the entire first half, including a 13-12 lead at the 11 minute mark.

Sexton had 11 straight points for CSU from there, as part of a 13-3 run for the Bucs that put them on top 26-15 with 7:51 on the clock. Mitchell capped off the run with a three point play, to give CSU their biggest lead of the half.

After trading baskets, another Sexton three had the Bucs on top 31-20 with 3:46 remaining in the half. Winthrop ended the half on a 6-0 run however, to make it a 31-26 CSU advantage heading into the intermission.

Sexton tallied 14 points on 5-8 shooting in the first 20 minutes, while also hitting four from behind the arc. The Bucs shot 52 percent from the field and 71 percent from three as a team in the first half, while the Eagles managed just a 30 percent shooting effort.

Winthrop cut into the lead to start the second half, putting the score at 31-30 a minute into play. CSU responded with a three from Sexton, but the Eagles took their first lead of the game on a Dreher three, to make the score 35-34 at the 14:19 mark.

The score was tied twice with eight lead changes in the second half alone, with the Bucs evening the score at 40-40 with 10:35 on the clock. After swapping one point leads, CSU went up 51-47, thanks to a pair of Billy Blackmon free throws with 3:02 remaining in the game.

Both teams had their chances to win it in the end and Withrop took a 54-53 advantage on a Reggie Middleton three, with 44 seconds left to play. The Bucs came right back however, going on top with a Mitchell finish, plus the foul. Up 55-54, Mitchell missed the free throw attempt with 27 seconds on the clock.

The Eagles couldn't take advantage however, missing contested layups on two separate attempts, before a scramble for the ball led to Martin being fouled with four seconds left. Martin hit both his free throws and a desperation Winthrop three hit off the backboard for a final 57-54 score.

CSU stepped up on the defensive side of the ball, holding Winthrop to just 35 percent shooting from the field (18-52) and 27 percent from three (4-15). The Bucs finished with a 46 percent shooting effort and a 41 percent mark from behind the line.

Next up, CSU will head on the road this weekend, playing at Gardner-Webb on Thursday, January 7, at 7 p.m. before playing at UNC Asheville on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Winthrop has a pair of conference home games next week, against VMI on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Liberty on Saturday at 4 p.m.