BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb begins a very important week on the hardwood Wednesday night, hosting Presbyterian in a key Big South Conference men's basketball battle at 7:00 pm.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs (18-11, 8-6 Big South) are tied for the fifth and final first-round bye in the upcoming league tournament – with two home games left in the regular season.
 
Head coach Tim Craft's team is coming off a tough, 87-79, loss at High Point on Saturday – a game that saw GWU chip a double figures second half deficit all the way down to a single possession with a minute left. 
 
The result dropped GWU to 2-6 on the road in league play, a heavy contrast from the team's 6-0 mark at home against the Big South Conference. That success in Paul Porter Arena extends beyond the Big South race – with Gardner-Webb sporting an 11-0 mark at home this season and 12 wins in a row in the arena dating back to last season's finale. The Runnin' Bulldogs have won 23 of their last 25 games at home overall.
 
This season, GWU is shooting a crisp 50.5 percent on its home court and is averaging 84.9 points per game. Leading scorer David Efianayi (18.7 ppg) has been particularly efficient at home in Big South Conference games – boosting his scoring average to 21.2 points per game while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor (51.6 percent from three).
 
Gardner-Webb has continued to get balanced production offensively, with freshman sensation Jose Perez (15.5 ppg) joining veterans DJ Laster (12.3 ppg) and Nate Johnson (10.4 ppg) in double figures this season.
 
Perez, a leading candidate for Big South Freshman of the Year due to his excellent all-around floor game, ranks second on the team with 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has two double-doubles and one triple-double to his credit already in his first season on campus.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs have gotten efficient playmaking from its point guard tandem of late, with Jaheam Cornwall (15 assists) and Christian Turner (seven assists) committing just one turnover combined over the past five games.
 
A stiff test awaits on Wednesday night, with one of the most improved teams in the country rolling into Boiling Springs. Presbyterian (17-12, 9-5 Big South) sits alone in fourth place under second-year head coach Dustin Kerns and took a 103-101 overtime win in the first meeting with the Runnin' Bulldogs.
 
That win by the Blue Hose snapped a 10-game win streak in the series for Gardner-Webb, as Francois Lewis scored three of his 29 points at the free throw line with 0.4 seconds left in overtime to pull out the win.
 
The 6-foot-9 Lewis, who is one of the league's most accurate three-point shooters, averages a strong 15.1 points per game, which ranks second on the Blue Hose stat sheet.
 
The team's leading scorer through 29 games has been freshman guard Adam Flagler (15.8 ppg). The younger brother of former Gardner-Webb All-America receiver DuVaughn Flagler (2004-2007) played prep basketball at Duluth (Ga.) High and has been effective shooting the basketball in his first collegiate season.
 
Flagler has made 90-of-226 chances from three-point range (39.8 percent), one of four regulars who shoot at least 39 percent from that distance this season.
 
Davon Bell (10.8 ppg, 188 assists) runs the offense at a high level, with the Blue Hose averaging 78.8 points per game. Freshman forward Cory Hightower (9.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) has been a strong presence down low – while veteran sharpshooter JC Younger (9.4 ppg) comes off the bench often to provide quick scoring punch. Nine different players average more than 10 minutes per game.
 
Wednesday's game will stream live on ESPN+, with Fabian Fuentes and Brendan Boylan on the call. For ticket information, call Gardner-Webb athletics at (704) 406-4340.