CHARLESTON, S.C. - Friday night, the CSU men's basketball team traveled north to take on the Wildcats of Davidson College.

Coming into the night, the Wildcats owned a 5-2 overall record this season with both of their losses being courtesy of two nationally-ranked opponents (#24 Arizona and #3 Gonzaga).

The Buccaneers have four players that are North Carolina natives, three of whom suited up for Friday night's ball game: Daylen Berry (Raleigh, NC), Jaylon Gibson (Zebulon, NC), and RJ Johnson (Matthews, NC). The Tar Heel State trio combined for 30 of the Bucs 72 points, 13 of the 38 rebounds, and 7 of the team's 10 assists.

The contest began as a back-and-forth affair and would stay that way for the remainder of the night as seven lead changes occurred through the night. 

Davidson would enter the halftime locker room with a slim but solid six-point advantage, but despite three Bucs not leaving the floor all night (Berry, Johnson, and Kelly), the group's energy was far from diminished.

As Davidson held on to their slim lead during the second-half, CSU would take a 59-57 lead with roughly eight minutes to play courtesy of a corner-three by Lamar Oden Jr.

After one of Taje' Kelly's many buckets, another Lamar Oden Jr. three-pointer would put the Bucs up six. Both squads would begin taking the ball to the cup for the next couple minutes of gameplay which would result in a tied ball game with two minutes left in regulation. The Bucs would be sent to the free throw line and unfortunately would see neither attempt go in the hoop. A double-bonus foul would send the 'Cats to the line where they would take a two-point possession of the lead once again. A possession later, a defensive miscommunication by CSU would result in two additional points in the paint for Davidson. The four point Wildcat lead would not be overthrown even as RJ Johnson would make a three-point attempt as time expired (72-73).

A valiant effort and nail-biting loss for the Bucs was still home to some statistical silver linings. Taje' Kelly led the Bucs in scoring just four points short of his career-high with 22 and 11 rebounds. Daylen Berry would also collect a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. RJ Johnson added 17 points of his own to the Bucs' offensive effort, and Lamar Oden Jr. would tally up 14 points off the bench shooting 50% from both the field (5/10) and from deep (4/8).

Three Buccaneers played all 40 minutes in the Davidson match-up and have deserved some much needed rest as the Bucs have two days between tonight's contest and their next battle at South Carolina State on Monday night (Dec. 9).

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