CHARLESTON – Saturday afternoon, the Charleston Southern men's basketball program arrived at the G.B. Hodge Center on the campus of USC Upstate. CSU would ultimately fall to the Spartans in overtime, 100–94.

The CSU frontcourt made its presence felt from the opening tip, as the trio of Devin Brafford, Reis Jones, and Lase Olalere combined for 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks in the game's opening frame.

Jacob Taylor earned his 17th start of the season for the Buccaneers on Saturday and led CSU in the first half with 13 points. Taylor connected on all three of his long-range attempts in the opening 20 minutes and shot 80 percent from the floor. His scoring pace carried into the second half, as he finished the contest with 24 points, second-most on the team.

After trading baskets and with neither team gaining more than a two-possession advantage through the first 29 minutes, CSU stretched its lead to seven, 70–63, following a Jesse Hafemeister and-one conversion. The Spartans responded with a 10–2 run to reclaim the lead at 73–72.

Upstate's ability to get to the foul line allowed the Spartans to maintain their edge over the next several minutes. A Mason Bendinger three-pointer extended the lead to seven, 87–80, with just over three minutes remaining. CSU answered with three consecutive baskets from Hafemeister, pulling the Buccaneers within one, 87–86, as the graduate student continued his second-half takeover.

Trailing by five, Armari Carraway knocked down a late-shot-clock three to cut the deficit to two, 91–89, with 49 seconds remaining. A holding foul on the Spartans sent Carraway to the free-throw line with 21 seconds left. Facing a one-and-one opportunity, Carraway converted both attempts to tie the game at 91–91. With 2.7 seconds remaining, a Reis Jones block forced an out-of-bounds play, and a last-second Spartan attempt failed to fall, sending the contest to overtime.

Upstate opened overtime with a three-pointer from Tyler Smith to take a 94–91 lead. A Spartan basket and a pair of CSU free throws accounted for the only scoring over the next three minutes. With 59 seconds remaining and Upstate ahead 96–93, the Spartans called a timeout. Fouled while battling for a rebound, Brafford went to the line for two double-bonus free throws, converting one to make it 98–94. CSU was unable to score again and was forced to foul in the closing seconds, as Upstate closed out the 100–94 overtime victory.

Notables:

• Jacob Taylor finished with a team-second 24 points – recording a career-high in points, made field goals (7), and made three-pointers (4).

• Jesse Hafemeister recorded 20+ points for the second consecutive contest – joining Taylor in the category with 32 on Saturday. Those 32 points broke Hafemeister's previous CSU career-high of 26.

• The trio of CSU big men: Devin Brafford, Reis Jones, and Lase Olalere would combine for 22 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks on Saturday – the trio's best combined statistical performance of the year.

• Nate Brafford would add a career-high 4 blocks to the Buccaneer team total.

• Struggling from the free-throw line through a solid portion of conference play, the Bucs shot a combined 20-for-24 (83%) in their contests this week from the charity stripe. Their 82.4% mark at Upstate on Saturday was their third highest performance of the 2025-26 season.

Up Next:

On Wednesday, February 11th, CSU will host the Presbyterian Blue Hose – a team they lost to 87-83 on January 21st in Clinton.

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