BOILING SPRINGS – Head coach Tim Craft and his Runnin' Bulldogs will begin Big South Conference play on Wednesday afternoon in the Tidewater of Virginia with hopes of building on a character-building December filled with hard work and toughness.

After the emotional roller-coaster of postponements and cancellations, Gardner-Webb (1-4) finally hit the court for real on December 10. A back-and-forth battle with C-USA favorite Western Kentucky and its first-round draft pick Charles Bassey ensued, with GWU's last-second shot to win just off the mark.

An ice-cold shooting start at Pittsburgh two days later caused a gritty defensive effort to be overlooked and a quickly-scheduled fill in game at reigning SoCon champion ETSU also ended with a close loss.

The first home game of the season – albeit without fans – proved to be an offensive clinic as the Runnin' Bulldogs put the pedal down early and held on for an 88-77 win over a VMI team that came into Boiling Springs sporting a sparkly 5-2 overall record.

The final non-conference tilt against No. 21 Florida State – rescheduled from a postponed matchup in November – saw Gardner-Webb play at a high level against the Seminoles. A halftime lead slowly moved in the direction of the much taller home squad, but teachable moments arose from another hard-fought effort.

One particular area of focus during the early season was to build depth. Gardner-Webb has played at least 10 men in each of its first five games, with 11 getting on the floor twice.

Good news also arrived on that front just a few days ago, when Australian guard Tyrone Simos-Primerano (6-7, 190, Fr.) arrived on campus just in time for Big South Conference play. The versatile Primerano was unable to enroll on time in August due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. He averaged 19.3 points per game for his prep team last season and was part of the Victoria U20 Team that won the 2020 Australian National Championships.

Gardner-Webb has produced well from long distance this season, making 48-of-130 chances (36.9 percent) and will look to All-Big South guard Jaheam Cornwall (13.0 ppg) to heat up his accuracy and playmaking as league play begins. 

Leading scorer Lance Terry (13.4 ppg), who was hampered by injuries as a freshman last season, has been a bright spot as a new starter – firing at a 48.1 percent rate from distance and at 50 percent overall. Both he and Cornwall are shooting north of 85 percent from the free throw stripe as well, although each would benefit from more attempts from the line.

Junior college transfer Jacob Falko has shown very bright spots when his shot is falling – 19 points at Western Kentucky and 21 vs. VMI – and is another 80 percent free throw shooter so far.

Freshmen wings D'Maurian Williams, Anthony Selden and Jamaine Mann have each shown the ability to score and have size profiles that should translate very well into Big South play.

Both Mick Lynott and Jordan Sears have proven to be capable performers in the backcourt, specifically at point guard when called upon.

The post duo of Kareem Reid (5.6 points, 4.0 rebounds) and Ludovic Dufeal (3.2 points, 5.4 rebounds) will be more effective against Big South Conference-level size, although Reid had one of his best games in the season opener against a tall Western Kentucky front court. Both can block shots at an elite level (14 combined so far).

Sammy Itodo has seen an uptick in playing time of late, and can be a valuable asset in the paint on both ends should either starter up front need a breather – or run into foul trouble.

The Big South race has seen four teams jump out to 2-0 starts – preseason favorite Winthrop is 5-0 overall as well – with Campbell, Gardner-Webb, High Point and Presbyterian starting league play this week.

Hampton (3-4, 2-0 Big South) picked up two key road wins to start Big South action last week, rolling to a 67-55 win in the opener and using a buzzer beater from Deuce Dean for a 70-68 win in the series finale.

Davion Warren earned Player of the Week honors from the league on Monday and leads the Pirates in scoring (17.6 ppg). Chris Shelton (12.4 ppg), Dean (11.3 ppg) and Edward Oliver-Hampton (10.0 ppg) also average in double digits for a team that is looking to replace two of the Big South's most dominant scorers in Jermaine Marrow (24.8 ppg) and Ben Stanley (22.0 ppg).

Wednesday's game will tip at 2:00 pm and will stream live on ESPN+. The New Year's Eve series finale will tip at Noon and will also stream live on ESPN+.