BOILING SPRINGS – Jaheam Cornwall scored a game-high 21 points and D'Maurian Williams added 18 points off the bench to spark Gardner-Webb to a 80-71 win over Charleston Southern Monday afternoon.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (6-9, 5-5 Big South) won their third game in a row and swept a Big South series for the first time this season.

Cornwall came alive late in the first half to pull Gardner-Webb back into the lead, scoring 11 points over the final 2:49 of the first half to put the 'Dogs up 42-39 at the break. That push was part of a larger 16-6 run over the final four minutes of the half for GWU.

Charleston Southern (1-13, 0-10 Big South) battled hard throughout, tying the game three times in the first five minutes of the second half – the final time on a Sean Price three-pointer with 15:28 to go. Gardner-Webb answered with a three from Williams and got a traditional three-point play from Williams to go up 56-52 with 12:11 left in regulation.

Gardner-Webb couldn't create much separation over the next five minutes. After JaQuavian Florence connected on consecutive jumpers to pull Charleston Southern within 63-61 at the 7:17 mark, Cornwall heated up again to spark the 'Dogs – scoring eight in a row to give Gardner-Webb a 71-61 lead and force a CSU timeout with 5:15 left.

Jacob Falko's layup extended the run to 10-0, before the Buccaneers gathered themselves and mounted a counterattack. 

Price and Melvin Edwards, Jr., knocked down back-to-back threes to trim the lead quickly to 73-67 with 3:27 to go – and Phlandrous Fleming made a pair of free throws with 2:47 left to cut the lead to 73-69.

Gardner-Webb had one last run, halting Charleston Southern's rally when Kareem Reid whipped a nice pass out of the post to a wide open Falko for a three-pointer with 2:31 to play. Reid then got inside for a layup off the glass for a 78-69 lead with 88 seconds left – and Williams tipped in a miss on the break for an 80-69 margin with just 21.3 seconds to go.

Fleming sank a pair of free throws with 8.0 seconds left for the final margin.

Cornwall knocked down 8-of-12 shots Monday, including a 5-of-8 effort from deep, and also contributed five rebounds and five assists with only two turnovers in 34 minutes – putting together n All-Big South caliber floor game.

Although the 'Dogs allowed a 36-32 deficit on the glass, they owned the paint by a 32-20 scoring margin and held their own on second-chance points – with CSU holding a slight 12-11 edge in that category.

Williams, the Big South's Freshman of the Week choice on Monday, lived up to the billing with his fourth game in a row over 16 points. He has netted double figures points in seven of his last eight games and is now shooting 40.8 percent from long range (31-of-76).

Falko came alive for 13 points and five rebounds, in addition to a primary role in harassing Charleston Southern star Fleming into a 1-for-11 shooting night and eight points. Jordan Sears scored nine points and Jamaine Mann came off the bench for eight points and 10 rebounds in an active 28 minutes.

Gardner-Webb shot a strong 50.8 percent for the game (30-of-59), made 13-of-27 from deep (48.1 percent) and turned the basketball over just five times. The 'Dogs had 16 assists in the game, with Cornwall (5) and Sears (3) leading that effort. Eight different men scored in the game and seven different men had assists.

Sears also finished with a season-best six steals.

With Fleming having an off night offensively, Charleston Southern got strong production from its freshman class. Florence led the way with a physical 18 points, Emorie Knox sank a quartet of three-pointers for 12 points and Melvin Edwards, Jr., scored 11. Price, a junior, finished with 10 points off the bench for the Buccaneers.

Charleston Southern shot 44.8 percent from the floor (26-of-58) and made 13-of-35 from three-point range (37.1 percent). The Bucs had a nifty 16:9 assist/turnover ration on those 26 made baskets, with five coming from Fleming.

Gardner-Webb will hit the road for a key Big South series this weekend, traveling to face second-place Radford on Friday (January 29, 6 PM) and Saturday (January 30, 6 PM). Both games are set to stream on ESPN+ from the Dedmon Center.