Mitchell with 24, Charleston Southern downs Liberty 87-75

Feb 8, 2018, 03:18 am

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Cortez Mitchell scored 24 points and Charleston Southern downed Liberty 87-75 on Wednesday night.

Travis McConico added 23 points with five rebounds for the Buccaneers (10-14, 5-8 Big South) who shot 61 percent from the field compared to 53 percent for Liberty. Christian Keeling scored 10 points.

A Jordan Jones dunk early in the first half sparked a 22-9 run that included three 3-pointers by McConico, and one apiece from Keeling, Deontaye Buskey and Sean Price to put the Buccaneers up 31-18 with 6:43 to go. They led 37-28 at the break.

Liberty battled back early in the second half and took a 61-59 edge with 7:45 to play but the Buccaneers answered on a 7-0 run to take a 66-61 lead and Mitchell made two 3s after that and Keeling added another to make it 75-66 with 3:13 left.

Lovell Cabbil scored 15 points to lead the Flames (15-11, 6-7). The loss snaps a three-game win streak for Liberty.