BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb made its first seven three-pointers to jump out to an 11-point first half lead and never trailed in snapping Charleston Southern's five-game winning streak with a 91-81 victory at Paul Porter Arena on Thursday. CSU now sits alone in second place in the Big South Conference standings, a game behind High Point. The Bucs host High Point on Saturday with a chance to claim a share of the league title.

CSU (18-10, 12-5 Big South) sunk 11 first half threes in a win over Gardner-Webb (18-12, 10-7 Big South) at the Buc Dome last month, but had the Runnin' Bulldogs turn the tables in the rematch. Tyler Strange finished with 23 points and hit his first five threes of the night to spearhead the blistering shooting, and GWU connected on 10-of-14 from deep overall to build a 44-37 halftime lead.

Gardner-Webb leaned on its inside combo of Jerome Hill and Tyrell Nelson in the second half, with the duo combining for 27 of their combined 36 points after intermission. CSU closed within five on an Aaron Wheeler layup to start the second stanza, but Gardner-Webb scored the next six points and the Bucs never crept closer than eight the rest of the way.

CSU could not find an answer defensively against GWU's potent attack, allowing 63 percent shooting (17-of-27) in the second half and 56 percent overall.

Saah Nimley paced CSU with 23 points, but struggled to the tune of 4-of-19 shooting, including 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Arlon Harper scored 22 points and grabbed three steals, while Wheeler hit for a career-high 19 points and four steals.

Nimley handed out three assists as well, and now has 501 in his career. He is the first player in Big South history with over 1,700 points and 500 assists. Nimley will tie Ed O'Neil as the program's all-time leader in assists with three more helpers.

Hill and Nelson each tallied 18 for GWU, and led the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 33-27 rebounding advantage. Jarvis Davis added 15 and buried three of GWU's 13 threes.

Strange and Davis made threes on Gardner-Webb's first two possessions to set the tone from the start. Strange added four more threes and had 15 points by the 12:02 mark of the opening half, with the last triple of that opening flurry lifting GWU to a 24-13 advantage.

Will Saunders notched a three-point play on CSU's next trip down the floor, and a jumper by Wheeler and a pair of Nimley free throws brought the score to 26-21. GWU pushed its lead back out to nine, only to see CSU rattle off a 9-1 spurt to make it a one-point game. Wheeler recorded the first four points of that surge, and hit Harper for a corner trey to make it a 31-29 game. Paul Gombwer finished the run with a jump hook in the paint.

GWU pushed its edge back to ten points on Isaiah Ivey's three-pointer, and went into the half up by seven as Hill hit a free throw following a Harper steal and lay-in for the Bucs.

Wheeler tallied 13 markers of his career-high outing in the first half, and drove the lane for two off a Harper dribble hand-off to start the second period. GWU took control from there, taking advantage inside with Cedrick Bowen in foul trouble. Bowen fouled out at the 7:49 mark, with Nelson converting a three-point play in the process to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a 77-64 lead.

CSU closes out the regular season against High Point at the Buc Dome on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. The Bucs will honor their five seniors prior to the start.