CHARLESTON, SC -
Kelvin Martin erupted for a career-high 27 points on his senior day to lead Charleston Southern over Wofford in a 77-59 rout at Buccaneer Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
Martin added 14 rebounds for his tenth double-double of the campaign as CSU (17-10, 10-6 BSC) led by as many 21 to finish the regular season with a 12-2 record in the Buc Dome. Junior guard Jeremy Sexton was excellent off the bench for the Bucs, hitting his first four shots en route to matching a season-high output of 19 points.
Wofford (17-11, 10-6 SoCon) was paced by 21 points from senior guard Kevin Giltner and 13 more from backcourt mate Brad Loesing, but got little else as they were limited to 40 percent shooting for the night, including just 32 percent in the first half.
Joined by his parents, brother, and nieces, Martin was honored prior to tipoff to juice up a capacity crowd, but it was the Terriers who jumped out to a 7-3 lead over the Bucs in the opening minutes. CSU countered with a 9-2 spurt, though, and moved in front for good when Sexton sailed home a left-wing trey for a 12-9 advantage at the 13:07 mark.
Martin went end-to-end off his lone steal of the nigh for CSU's next bucket and hit two free throws to up the cushion to 16-12. Sexton and Nimley then did some damage from long range, swishing home back-to-back triples to push the Bucs ahead, 22-12, with 8:42 remaining. The onslaught continued, as Martin and Sexton pumped in CSU's next nine points to raise the advantage to 16. Martin hit three free throws, secured a tip-in, and threw down a two-hand dunk, while Sexton knocked down a pair from the charity stripe as well.
Chris Grier gave the Bucs their biggest lead of the night at 18 with two more from the line, and Martin showcased the diversity of his game by drilling a 16-foot jumper for another highlight in a brilliant first half which sent CSU into the locker room with a 39-23 lead. Martin totaled a double-double in the first stanza alone, as he entered intermission with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Courtesy of Nimley, Martin gave the Buc Dome one of its bigger jolts of an entertaining evening in the opening minute of the second half. Nimley chased down a long rebound and hit Martin with an alley-oop pass which the 6-5 senior forward caught and slammed home in one motion for a 41-23 advantage.
Wofford would not go easily, though, drawing within ten on several occasions before slicing the deficit to eight on a Giltner jumper with 11 minutes left. CSU responded immediately with seven points in a 1:37 span, however, as Harper went off the bounce for two, Martin soared for another jam, and Grier connected on a triple for a 58-43 lead. The Terriers whittled their hole down to ten again several minutes later, but the Bucs ran off an 11-2 run which Sexton punctuated with another three-ball to apply the exclamation point.
All that was left were a couple of more moments for Martin, as he clinched a career-high in points with his fourth dunk of the night before capping a 9-for-10 effort at the free-throw line with a couple of swishes. Martin was substituted out of the game after the second make, and received a rousing ovation from the crowd and hugs from coaches and teammates as he made his way to the bench.
Martin's stellar night at the free-throw line was part of a collective CSU effort which finished 26-of-32 at the charity stripe.
CSU embarks on a two-game road swing to end the regular season beginning Thursday, when it meets VMI for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va. The Bucs ran up a season-high 114 markers in a 33-point rout of the Keydets at home on Dec. 3.
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