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CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern looked to its defense for timely stops time and time again in the second half of Saturday's game against Newberry. Time and time again, the defense delivered. A fourth quarter safety by senior nose tackle Isaac Lowrance highlighted a sterling defensive effort as the Bucs held off Newberry, 16-10, in front of a crowd of 3,914 fans at Buccaneer Field.

CSU's defense forced three-and-outs on Newberry's first three possessions of the second half, and generated a turnover on the fourth. Lowrance's pressure of Newberry quarterback W.T. Murden drew a grounding call in the end zone with 6:10 remaining, giving CSU (2-0) a 16-10 edge. Newberry (0-1) had a chance with the football several minutes later, but freshman safety Davion Anderson deflected away a fourth down pass to seal the victory with 1:53 remaining.

CSU head coach Jamey Chadwell expected his team would be challenged by Newberry, and a challenge is exactly what it received. Chadwell was pleased his team found a way to win.

"They're a good team," Chadwell said of Newberry. "They have a lot of good players and they played very hard tonight. We played pretty well in the first half and had a chance to put it out of reach but to their credit, they played very well in the second half. We struggled a little bit to get any consistency on offense but we found enough to win.

"We knew we would get their best shot, and answered the challenge," Chadwell continued. "We won the game and that was the goal. Now that I have children, there are no ugly children. We'll take the win."

CSU junior quarterback Austin Brown threw for 176 yards and two first half touchdowns to give the Bucs just enough offensively. Brown hit freshman Jared Scotland on a 52-yard strike on CSU's first play from scrimmage. He found another freshman, Kenny Dinkins, for a 20-yard second quarter score that gave the Bucs a 14-3 halftime advantage.

The Bucs generated only 78 yards of offense in the second half, but the play of the defense allowed them to register just their second ever win over Newberry. 

"We had some chances to make some big plays and we missed them," Chadwell said. "A lot of the reasons were self-inflicted. We had some penalties and missed some key blocks. Those things are fixable. We're trying to work some new guys in so we're not there with our continuity yet."

"Our top 11 defensively are pretty good," said Chadwell of a defensive effort that limited the Wolves to 229 yards of offense, including just 55 rushing. "We're still not where we can be a dominant defense but we're heading in a good direction. Our guys feel they can be a very good unit."

CSU senior Dylan Black delivered a tackle-for-loss on the opponent's opening series for a second straight game to help force a three-and-out on Newberry's first possession. Brown struck immediately, as the junior hit Scotland in stride for a 52-yard touchdown to put the Bucs up 7-0.

Newberry responded two drives later with its first extended drive of the game, moving 51 yards on 12 plays before settling for a Kyle Clark 20-yard field goal. The Bucs' defense came through with a crucial goal line stand, as junior linebacker Zack Johnson made a third-down stop to force the Wolves to settle for three points.

The Bucs responded on their following drive as Brown found Nathan Perera for 36 yards through the air, moving the ball to the Newberry 26-yard line. Two plays later, Brown threw to Dinkins for a 20-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 14-3 at the 14:07 mark of the second quarter.

Both defenses dictated play in the third quarter, as only one first down was recorded by either side. CSU turned away a potential Newberry score early in the fourth quarter, as Anderson jarred the ball free from the hands of Swindler and corner Malcom Jackson pounced on it at the 11-yard line.

The margin remained the same until the midway point of the fourth quarter, when Newberry converted its only big play of the night on a 3^rd-down-and-21. Newberry quarterback W.T. Murden hit receiver Jackson Swindler over the middle on a short pass and Swindler raced 62 yards for a touchdown, cutting the CSU lead to 14-10.

Burns' punt on the following CSU possession pinned the Wolves at their own 6-yard line. On the following snap, intentional grounding was called in the end zone as Murden failed to clear the box when he attempted to throw the ball away while evading pressure from Lowrance. The score accounted for the final tally, as Anderson's deflection and a late first down from senior running back Christian Reyes clinched the triumph.

CSU continues its four-game homestand this Thursday against Campbell. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.