by CHARLESTON – Thursday night, Charleston Southern participated in night one of the Bulldog Bash multi-team event hosted by Alabama A&M University. The Bucs would play the hosting institution Thursday, losing the match-up, 68-64.
After defeating The Citadel earlier in the week, Buccaneer Head Coach Saah Nimley did not ease up on the “hunger and humility” he expected from his 2025–26 group as they headed to Huntsville, Alabama. The first half of Thursday’s game was an ugly start for the Bucs as—outside of a Reis Jones’ dunk—they did not convert a field goal for the first 7:43 of play. AAMU’s lead grew to as many as 13 in the opening period, fueled largely by Bulldog guard Kintavious Dozier’s 20 first-half points. Back-to-back buckets from CSU senior transfer Nate Brafford cut the margin back to single digits with under five minutes left, but the Bulldogs quickly ballooned the lead to 12 less than two minutes later. The Buc with the most efficient shooting night, Jesse Hafemeister, did his best to narrow the gap; his only two three-point attempts both fell within a span of 39 seconds, trimming the deficit to seven.
In the second half, the Bucs shot worse than they had in the first 20 minutes (dropping from 42.9% to 40.7%), though Alabama A&M followed the same misfortune (from 42.1% to 34.5%). The number that stood out as the game wore on was turnovers. CSU’s 18 giveaways were their most through four games and doubled the total they committed at The Citadel earlier in the week.
Down nine points with 14 minutes remaining, a personal 10–2 run by Charleston Southern’s Brycen Blaine cut the lead to a single point. Although he didn’t replicate his 42-point, near triple-double performance from earlier in the week, Blaine again led the Buccaneers with 22 points Thursday night. A tip-in by Brafford gave CSU its first lead of the game with 9:35 to play—a lead the Bucs held for the following eight minutes.
A jumper by AAMU’s PJ Eason tied the game at 62 with 1:35 remaining. A pull-up from Sami Pissis with 24 seconds left would put the Bulldogs ahead 66–64, and after a long but unproductive final possession by CSU, the comeback bid on day one of the Bulldog Bash fell short. Alabama A&M prevailed, 68–64.
Notables:
- Reis Jones would record a double-double (the third of his CSU career) with 11 points and 10 rebounds, along with 2 blocked shots.
