DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman Men's Basketball recorded a third consecutive win Monday evening as the Wildcats held off visiting Charleston Southern, 79-73 in nonconference action at Moore Gymnasium.
 
With both teams struggling to find offensive rhythm early, the latter stages of the first half saw an offensive explosion, of sorts.
 
With Charleston Southern (2-3) leading 8-6 early-on following a Reginald Duhart Jr. jumper from just outside the paint, Bethune-Cookman embarked upon a 10-2 run with help from Zion Harmon and Derrick Carter-Hollinger Jr., allowing BCU an 18-10 lead with 9:10 showing on the first half clock.
 
Back-to-back field goals from Reggie Ward Jr. pushed the Wildcats lead to 24-12 – a lead in which the hosts would never relinquish.
 
Harmon, the 2022-23 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Freshman of the Year, poured in 13 first half points, allowing the Cats a 36-30 advantage as the two teams headed for the locker room at the interval.
 
Bethune-Cookman (3-1) would shoot 48.4 percent from the field in the opening half, turning 12 turnovers from the Buccaneers into 12 points, respectfully. Points in the paint certainly favored BCU, as the Wildcats outscored their gusts 38-22 in that area for the game.
 
CSU went inside early, allowing the Buccaneers to get to the line and convert all nine attempts through the first period.
 
In the second half, BCU widened the lead at 53-37 with help from Jakobi Heady offensively and the rebounding efforts of Elijah Hulsewe in a 14-7 Wildcats run. A Harmon three-pointer, one of three on the night for the Temple Hills, Maryland native, put the Maroon and Gold up 58-42 at the under-12 media timeout.
 
A'lahn Sumler and Duhart lifted the Buccaneers over the course of the next two minutes, as the sharp-shooting Sumler netted nine points in the midst of an 11-1 CSU run that saw the visitors cut into the deficit, 59-53 with 9:35 remaining in the second half.
 
Free throws from Carter-Hollinger – as he went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the game, combined with a pull-up jumper from Harmon ended the threat and put BCU back up by double-digits, 70-60.
 
Ward and Harmon provided the scoring down the stretch, with the latter finishing 8-of-10 at the foul line for the night and securing the Cats their fourth consecutive win at home dating back to last season.
 
Charleston Southern was aided on the night by 18 points from Sumler, as he turned in a 6-of-7 performance from three-point range. He was followed in double-figures scoring by Taje' Kelly and RJ Johnson with 16 points each. DJ Patrick supplied 11 points. Kelly led the Buccaneers with eight rebounds, going on to add three assists as well.
 
For BCU, it was Harmon's 29-point night that led all scorers in the contest, while also recording a game-high six assists to go along with a pair of steals. Dhashon Dyson, a senior guard from Chicago, poured in 16 points – his third double-digit scoring output in as many games, as well as Ward posting 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double performance.
 
Bethune-Cookman next faces Lamar on Friday, Nov. 24, as the Cats travel to Farmville, Virginia to compete in the Brock Challenge hosted by Longwood. The Cats will also face Delaware State (Nov. 25) and the host Longwood Lancers (Nov. 26) as part of the post-holiday event.
 
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