CHARLESTON – Thursday night, Head Coach Saah Nimley's men's basketball team would play their first home game of the young 2025-2026 season against the Toccoa Falls Eagles (0-1). The last contest between the Bucs and Eagles was exactly two years prior to Thursday night, also in the Buc Dome, with CSU taking home the 94-59 victory. Although CSU only has two players from that 2023-2024 team still on their roster, the domination did not waver as CSU brought home this year's win, 106-71.

In game one of the season at Virginia Tech, the first CSU basket came from the hands of graduate transfer Jesse Hafemeister — a three-pointer. On Thursday night, a bit of fortunate déjà vu occurred for the Garden State native, as Hafemeister was once again the first Buccaneer to score — again on a three-point shot. The two programs traded baskets through the first several minutes before the eventual Bucs leading scorer, Luke Williams, posted his first points of the night to give CSU a 10-9 lead with 16 minutes to play.

One of Coach Nimley's seemingly countless reserves, Nate Brafford, had a relatively quiet night on the stat sheet but made several impactful plays during his 14 minutes on the floor. One of those came around the six-minute mark in the first half, when Brafford disrupted a TFC dribble handoff that led to a transition dunk for the 6'9" transfer from Georgia Southern.

Charleston Southern's 28 three-point attempts in the first half of Monday's contest gave Buc Nation a glimpse of the style Coach Nimley's squad is now built to execute. A clear example of this came late in the first half, when Hafemeister knocked down a triple to put the Bucs up 43-29. Twenty seconds later, in transition, redshirt junior Brycen Blaine drilled a step-back trey (46-29), prompting a timeout from Toccoa Falls Head Coach Micah Ryals.

The second half featured 11 Buccaneers appearing in the scoring column. Leading by 20 heading into the locker room, CSU extended that margin to 35, defeating the Screaming Eagles 106-71.

Notables:

• Of CSU's 32 games during the 2024-2025 season, only six games were better shooting performances than Thursday night's outing. The Bucs shot 50.6% from the floor against Toccoa Falls.

• CSU's 18 made three-pointers was five-makes higher than any game last season from beyond the arc.

• The 18 triples now ties for the third-most three-point conversions in a single Bucs' basketball game in the program's history.

• CSU's 25 assists Thursday marks the most dimes dished out by the Bucs in a single game since December 28th, 2019 (29).

• Four CSU players reached double-digits in the scoring column: Williams (22), Hafemeister (19), Armari Carraway (14), and Blaine (12).

• Hafemeister scored his 1,500th career-point Thursday night. He currently has 1,514 points in his now five-year playing career.

• Jaquias Franklin has recorded 9 assists through CSU's first two contests in only 32 combined minutes.

Post-Game Points:

"Really grateful for a win… We didn't have a great first 12-14 minutes… We had a great crowd today that helped to propel us once we started to make some shots. Especially in that second-half… Overall just happy with our team. Great ball movement out there. These guys are so unselfish and have been a joy to coach, and I'm glad the fans are now getting to see what we've been seeing for a couple months now."

When asked about his depth at the guard position and if that was a main goal to obtain that position in the transfer portal, Nimley responded, "Our intention in the portal was to recruit all starters. We've dealt with a large injury bug that last couple of years, so this season we wanted to ensure everyone we brought in could start if needed… A good thing about all these guys we recruited is there was a ton of film on them… All these guys we've recruited have come here and been who we expected them to be… Really happy with our depth even though we've been playing without one of our bigger pieces in the backcourt being one our freshman guards. Jacob Taylor can really guard the ball. I really can't wait until he's back."

When asked about the culture he's had to establish into so many new guys, Nimley answered, "That was something I focused very heavily on this summer… Last year I didn't feel like we were "us" until about January… I asked myself, how do we get these guys to know who we are by November 3rd? We took quizzes. We did a lot of things this summer to expedite that process… I think that's why we're a lot further ahead than we were at this point last year."

Centered around the natural "chip on the shoulder" of players from other levels such as Division II, III, and junior college – Coach Nimley was asked if he has seen more of a hunger from the players who are finally on college basketball's biggest stage. Nimley stated, "Yes. There's always going to be a chip on guys' shoulders here. That's what works here… (Our players) have to feel overlooked… If you knew (Luke Williams') story regarding how he ended up here and the route he had to take… that's the type of guy I want in this locker room."

When asked about his success in his first Buc Dome-appearance, Luke Williams responded, "It was high energy… We had some lapses in the beginning of the game like Coach Nimley said, but he talked to us and we figured it out… It was a good team win."

Regarding Coach Nimley's recruiting of the junior college and Division II ranks during last off-season, Williams was asked how he thought his game would translate to his new scenery and the Big South Conference specifically. Williams commented, "It was a transfer. It was different coming to a (D1), and I didn't know what to expect at first. (Coach Nimley) brought me in and told me how it was when I came on my visit… It was something to adjust to, but I began to figure it out in the summer… As we continue to get better everyday and build chemistry, it will feel easier over time."

Up Next:

The Bucs will suit up next Monday, November 10th, for what will be one of their most meaningful match-ups of the 2025-2026 season as they take on Lowcountry rival, The Citadel at 7:00 PM. The ball game will be viewable on ESPN+.

To see a full sit-down conversation with Coach Nimley discussing the Bucs' next opponents and previous game recaps, watch the "2025-2026 Nimley Coaches Show" on CSUsports.com, X/Twitter, or YouTube.

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