OXFORD, Miss. – Charleston Southern men's basketball dropped their 2021-22 road opener Friday night inside of The Pavilion at Ole Miss, falling 93-68.
 
Points were at a premium early, as both teams had strong showings on the defensive half. A Sadarius Bowser layup opened the game and was answered by a Luis Rodriguez dunk. Tahlik Chavez answered right back with a trey to push the lead 5-2, but Ole Miss used strong shooting from the field to take over from there.
 
A 13-5 run by Ole Miss was highlighted by streaky shooting from the Rebel guards, with Jarkel Joiner. Joiner came into the game as the second-leading scorer for the Rebel offense, and he continued his high level of play tonight.
 
Two more Rodriguez dunks in transition added fuel to the Ole Miss offensive output, forcing a Charleston Southern timeout and giving the home team all the momentum. Matthew Murrell found points on two straight possessions to further extend the Rebel advantage.
 
The rest of the half was played even, as two Kalib Clinton free throws trimmed the lead to 37-24 at the midway break.
 
Charleston Southern opened up the closing stanza with another Chavez three, bringing the lead back down to just 10, and both teams traded buckets in the following minutes, but that was as close as the Bucs would get.
 
Joiner continued his strong night in the second half, finishing with 24 points on 9-14 shooting, including 4-7 from three, to go along with seven dimes and three boards. Rodriguez added 12 points and six rebounds and Austin Crowley added 11 points and nine dimes.
 
For the Bucs, Deontaye Buskey led the way with 17 points and seven rebounds. Sean Price recorded the first double-double for Charleston Southern on the year, collecting ten points and ten boards. Clinton added 12 points and four boards, and Chavez was the other Buc in double figures.
 
Up Next
Charleston Southern will play their second Power 5 school in as many contests as they travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to take on Wake Forest. Tipoff for that meeting is set for 7 p.m., Wednesday, November 17.
 
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