BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - A slim one-point halftime lead quickly slipped away in a rocky second half as the CSU men's basketball team stumbled at Gardner-Webb and fell to the Bulldogs 58-50 on Thursday evening at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C.

CSU is now 11-10 on the season and 5-3 in the Big South. Gardner-Webb earns just its second conference win, moving to 2-6 in the BSC and 7-13 overall.

Jamarco Warren led all players in scoring with 19 points and grabbed a team-high three steals for a team that entered the contest ranked 12th in NCAA Division I with 9.7 steals per game. Kelvin Martin came a rebound short of continuing with his streak of double-doubles, grabbing nine boards while putting up 12 points. Jeremy Sexton had eight points and four assists, while Johathan Brooks picked up seven boards and four blocks for the Bucs.

CSU struggled from the field, going 20-of-56 for 35.7 percent overall. They were 38.9 percent from beyond the arc, with Warren sinking five of the team's seven 3-pointers. The Bucs also finished with an uncharacteristically low free-throw percentage, going just 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

Gardner-Webb used a slew of players to pick up their 58 points, with Stefon Johnson notching a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) and David Brown adding in another 10 points. No other Bulldog player scored in double figures, as Luke Davis and Luke Engelken each put up nine points. Josh Henley grabbed 10 boards for the Runnin' Bulldogs, who were out-rebounded by the Bucs 41-31. Gardner-Webb shot 39.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. However, they found much more success at the free-throw line, going 12-for-17.

Charleston Southern won the turnover battles with 12 miscues to GWU's 16, but only came up with five steals on the night. The two teams were evenly matched in numerous statistical categories: CSU put up 25 points in the paint to GWU's 24; the Bucs scored 12 points off of turnovers while the Bulldogs put up 10; and both teams scored 10 points off of offensive rebounds. However, the key difference came in the form of reserve players, as the GWU bench outscored CSU's reserves 26-4.

The Bucs put up two on their first possession but didn't score again until almost four minutes into the contest as they took a 4-0 lead. The GWU struggled to score early on as CSU came up with three big blocks in early possession. After almost six minutes of action, the Runnin' Bulldogs finally got on the board with a jumper from Davis. Gardner-Webb then went on a 9-2 run to take an 11-10 lead with ten minutes left in the first half

Chris Grier traded buckets with Johnson as the Runnin' Bulldogs kept their slim lead. Three minutes later Warren hit a three to tie things up at 15-15 and another trey soon after put the Bucs back up by two. The two teams would tie it up three more times in the last 2:15 of the half before a free-throw by Martin put CSU ahead 24-23 at half time.

Kenny Mitchell started off the scoring in the second half with two in the paint, but things went downhill from there for CSU. Davis tied the game on a 3-pointer less than four minutes in, and the Bucs would never regain back the lead. In his first game back from injury John Moore hit a trey as the Runnin' Bulldogs started a 21-7 scoring run that took their advantage into double figures. A 3-pointer by Warren, who hit five on the night, cut GWU's lead down to 11. Sheldon Strickland sunk a free-throw to cut the deficit to ten, but the Bulldogs worked it up to 14 on a layup by Buggs with 2:14 left to go in the game.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Sexton, plus another from Warren, brought the Buccaneers within six with just over a minute left. But CSU was unable to make the come back as the Runnin' Bulldogs went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the last 60 seconds to take the 58-50 win.

The Bucs will continue on in the Tar Heel State as they look to rebound on Saturday with a tilt at UNC Asheville. Tip off will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Justice Center.