Charleston Southern beats Liberty 74-62

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) Saah Nimley scored 18 points and Charleston Southern beat Liberty 74-62 on Saturday.

Charleston Southern (13-8, 7-3 Big South) went on a 13-0 run midway through the first - including back-to-back 3-pointers by Danny Upchurch - and led 35-31 at the break.

Liberty cut the deficit to two on James Johnson's layup with 14:26 left, but a 9-2 run put Charleston Southern back up 53-44 and the Buccaneers held off Liberty down the stretch.

Nimley was just 4 of 14 from the floor, and missed all eight 3-point attempts, but made up for it at the line where he made 10 of 12. The Bucs made 22 of 24 free throws and had 10 steals. Arlon Harper had 14 points, Will Saunders 13 and Cedrick Bowen 12.

Andrew Smith led Liberty (6-17, 0-10) with 14 points while David Andoh added 12.