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| Matt Frierson and Zane Najdawi combined for 49 of The Citadel's 100 points in overtime win over Furman/Photo By John Hooper |
With the win, The Citadel improves to 9-14 overall and 4-7 in Southern Conference play, while Furman falls to 16-8 overall and 7-4 in league play.
Zane Najdawi was once again at his best for the Bulldogs, posting 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to the win. Last time out, Najdawi became one of only rwo players in Citadel history to post 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career. He was one of three Bulldog players in double figures, with Matt Frierson adding 21 points, while Kaelon Harris added 18.
Najdawi connected on 9-of-12 shots from the field, including going 4-for-5 from three-point range and was 6-for-11 from the free throw line. In addition to recording his second double-double of the season, the junior forward from Midlothian, VA., added a team-high three blocks.
Furman took a its largest lead of the afternoon, at 75-58, following a Devin Sibley three-pointer with 9:13 remaining in the game, and it looked as though the Paladins were going to coast to a second-straight road win and third-consecutive triumph, however, this is where things would get interesting inside the rowdy, and it started with a Harris triple to cut Furman’s lead to 16. Harris’ three would ignite what would be a wild finish to regulation.
Harris’ triple would commence a string of six-straight possessions in which the Bulldogs would post points, which included three triples during a stretch that saw the Bulldogs out-score the Paladins 14-2, cutting the Paladins’ lead to just five, at 77-72, following a Frankie Johnson layup with 5:17 remaining.
Furman would momentarily stop the bleeding when Geoff Beans canned a triple from the right wing, giving the Paladins an 80-72 lead with 4:15 remaining and then a Matt Rafferty layup two minutes later to extend Furman’s lead back to double-digits.
Following a missed layup by John Davis III with just under two minutes left, the Bulldogs responded with a Harris layup to cut the Paladins’ lead to eight. On the ensuing inbounds pass the ball would eventually reached Sibley, and he was immediately fouled. The senior from Knoxville, Tenn., missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and the ball was rebounded by The Citadel’s Frierson, and Harris converted a layup and was fouled by Lyons on the other end with 1:13 remaining, and Harris converted the three-point play the old-fashioned way, cutting the Furman lead to five, at 82-77.
Lyons was immediately fouled, and knocked down both foul shots to get Furman back to a three-possession lead, at 84-77, with 1:11 left.The CItadel responded on the ensuing possession with perhaps the biggest shot of the game, which game on a Harris triple from the left wing, bring the Bulldogs to within four with 59 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs once again immediately fouled, and this time, it was one of the Paladins’ top foul shooters, in Daniel Fowler. Fowler converted both shots of the double-bonus situation, extending Furman’s lead back to six, at 86-80, with 53 seconds remaining. But The Citadel would match Furman’s two free throws with another triple, as Nadjawi knocked down a three-pointer, cutting the Furman lead in half, 86-83, as his three hit nothing but net with 42 seconds left.
After Davis was fouled just three seconds later, he converted a pair of foul shots to take Furman’s lead back to five, at 88-83. But the Bulldogs just kept coming, and a triple by Frierson cut Furman’s lead to just two, at 88-86, with just over half a minute remaining.
Sibley, who has been struggling from the charity stripe over the past five games, was intentionally fouled by the Bulldogs. He missed both double-bonus foul shots, keeping the difference at two with 33 seconds remaining. Following timeout by Citadel head coach Duggar Baucom, the Bulldogs would execute a play to Frankie Johnson, and he laid the ball up and in with 4.8 seconds left to tie the basketball game, 88-88.
Following a pair of timeouts by Furman head coach Bob Richey, the Paladins turned the ball over, as Fowler attempted to receive a pass from Davis on the far side of the court, but in doing so, tumbled over the first row of seats as time expired and that guaranteed an extra five minutes of basketball with the game tied, 88-88.
In the extra session, the Bulldogs raced to a quick five-point lead after a Johnson layup and three-straight free throws from Frierson after he was fouled on a three-point attempt. He converted all three foul shots to increase The Citadel’s lead to 93-88 with 2:55 left.
Two more Johnson foul shots extended The Citadel’s lead to seven, 95-88, before Furman finally scored its first points of the extra session nearly three minutes in, when Sibley converted a reverse layup with 2:07 left to make it 95-90. That would as close as the Paladins would get the rest of the way, as the Bulldogs hit five of its final six free throws down the stretch to hold off the Paladins and come up with the eight-point, 100-92, victory.
Furman shot 57.6% in the opening half, and took its largest lead of the half at eight points on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Lyons, as the Paladins took a 52-44 lead to the break. After shooting the ball so well in the opening half, Furman would cool off significantly in the second half, connecting on just 41.4% in the second half.
Overall, the Paladins finished the contest connecting on 45.8% (33-of-72) from the field, including 33.3% (11-for-33) from three-point range and finished 75.0% (15-of-20) from the charity stripe. The 11-for-33 performance from three for the Paladins comes after shooting 50% (15-of-30) from three-point range in a win at Mercer Thursday night.
The Citadel, meanwhile, connected on 49.2% (31-of-63) of their shots from the field, including 43.8% (14-for-32) from three-point range. The 14 threes given up by the Furman’s normally proficient perimeter defense.The Bulldogs blistered the nets at 51.7% in the second half, connecting on 15-of-29 shots in the second half to force overtime. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting the ball at a 77.4% (24-of-31) from the free throw line.
The Bulldogs held a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers, while the Paladins claimed advantages in points in the paint (36-34), second chance points (20-12), fast break points (14-9), and bench points (23-15).
Furman record 21 assists on 33 made field goals, while the Bulldogs had 17 assists on 31 made field goals. The Paladins held a 41-36 edge on the backboards.
Fuman had five players finish in double figures, with Sibley and Davis tying for a team-high honors, with 18 points apiece. Rafferty chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Lyons and Fowler finished the contest with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Fowler added seven assists and nine rebounds. Rafferty and SIbley also added a pair of steals to their respective stat lines.
Furman returns home to the friendly confines of Timmons Arena to face UNC Greensboro Wednesday night in a 7 p.m. contest, while The Citadel will be on the road at McKenzie Arena to face Chattanooga Thursday night in a 7 p.m. contest.
Notes:
--The Citadel snaps a four-game losing skid to Furman.
--The 14 triples given up this season were the most by the Paladins
--The loss by Furman marks its first to a team with a below .500 record
--The Citadel’s 100 points were the most given up by Furman in a game this season
--The Citadel improved to 14-2 under Duggar Baucom when scoring 100 or more points.
Quotes:
Zane Najdawi on his stellar play of late
“It’s been a whole team effort not just me, and everyone’s been playing well together and we’ve been clicking as of late and we never give up even when people might count us out in games, but we believe in ourselves. ”
Zane Najdawi on tough early Schedule preparing The Citadel for SoCon play
“Playing tough teams in the beginning and we learned a lot and watched film and we learned from our mistakes and we learned a lot from it.”
Zane Najdawi on close loss to ETSU and team gaining confidence
“We definitely gained confidence in that game, and they’re the top team in the league and they haven’t lost and we only lost by two and a lot of us think we should have won that game and that just proves we can play with anyone in this league.”
Zane Najdawi on his stellar play of late
“It’s been a whole team effort not just me, and everyone’s been playing well together and we’ve been clicking as of late and we never give up even when people might count us out in games, but we believe in ourselves. ”
Zane Najdawi on tough early Schedule preparing The Citadel for SoCon play
“Playing tough teams in the beginning and we learned a lot and watched film and we learned from our mistakes and we learned a lot from it.”
Zane Najdawi on close loss to ETSU and gaining confidence
“We definitely gained confidence in that game, and they’re the top team in the league and they haven’t lost and we only lost by two and a lot of us think we should have won that game and that just proves we can play with anyone in this league.”
Head coach Bob Richey on The Citadel’s Play of Late
“Coach (Duggar) Baucom has this team playing really really well and with a lot of confidence and even tonight they didn’t flinch. We were up 17 points with 10 minutes to play and they kept fighting and I thought that they made a bunch of shots late and that’s what they do and that’s who they are. ”
"It's a totally different team and up at our place they were playing more zone pressure and back to a zone and you know they were trying to out-score you and I think this team right now and what they are doing is taking a little more pride in their defense."
In another big rivalry game Saturday, East Tennessee State ran its winning streak to 15 games as it made easy work of archrival Chattanooga, in the rowdy, friendly confines of Freedom Hall, defeating the Mocs 81-61 to take the season sweep.
The win by the Bucs puts them within a victory of tying the school-record for consecutive wins (16), which was previously established by the 2003-04 Southern Conference champion ETSU team. With the win, the Bucs improved to 21-4 overall and 12-0 in SoCon play, while Chattanooga dropped to 8-17 overall and 2-10 in league action.
The win by the Bucs on Saturday tied the 1952-53 ETSU squad for second-most consecutive wins in school history with 15. In front of what was a sellout crowd of 6,149 fans, the Bucs continued to show why they have been the class of the Southern Conference so far, and it was another classy, strong effort from senior guard Desonta Bradford that proved to be the feature attraction.
Bradford, who was coming off a career-high 31 points in a win over Samford Thursday night, posted a team-high 22 points, while seven-foot senior center Peter Jurkin added 16 points and 13 rebounds to round out his second double-double of the season.
Defensively, the Bucs were stellar once again, holding the Mocs to just 39% shooting from the field and just 26% from the field. The Mocs were led in the contest by a game-high 26 points from Rodney Chatman, and he ended as the only Chattanooga player in double figures.
The Bucs won't return to action until Saturday, Feb. 10, when they travel to VMI to face the Keydets at Cameron Hall in a tip-off time set for 1 p.m. Chattanooga returns to Southern Conference action Thursday night, hosting red-hot Citadel in a 7 p.m. tip-off time set for McKenzie Arena.
The final game of the day saw Western Carolina host Samford in a key league showdown, with the winner looking to more secure in gaining a bye for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament next month in Asheville.
That team with would be Western Carolina, who posted an 88-71 win over the Bulldogs in SoCon action Saturday evening inside the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center. The win marked 38-year veteran head coach Larry Hunter's 700th in his career, and in his 13th year at the helm of the Western Carolina basketball program, registered his 191st win and his 110th against Southern Conference competition.
The 700 wins by Hunter puts him elite company in his NCAA Division I college basketball brethren, as he became one of just 40 coaches at the Division I level to reach that particular milestone.
The veteran leadership of junior forward JUCO transfer Mike Amius and senior guard Devin Peterson combined for 53 of the 88 points in helping the Catamounts improve to 11-13 overall and 6-5 in Southern Conference play, as Western Carolina remained in strong contention for one of the top six seeds in Asheville for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament next month. The loss dropped Samford to 8-17 overall and 4-8 in SoCon play. Head coach Scott Padgett's are now just 1-12 away from Birmingham this season.
Amius finished out the contest with one of the best career performances for the Purple and Gold, as he posted a career-high 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe, while Peterson contributed 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from three-point range to finish out his strong effort. Ashley Williams led the Catamounts on the boards, collecting a game and career-high 14 rebounds.
It didn't appear the game would end in Hunter's 700th win initially, as Samford ran out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes of game action, however, 9-1 run in response by the Catamounts tied the game, 9-9, with 13:26 to play in the first half. The Catamounts assumed their first lead a little over midway through the opening half on a layup by Amius to make it a 16-15 game with 9:38 remaining in the opening frame. After a pair of Bulldog free throws on the ensuing possession gave the Bulldogs a 17-16 lead, it would prove to be their final lead of the contest.
The Catamounts went on a 12-0 run from there and broke the game wide open, as the Bulldogs would never come within solid striking distance the rest of the way. Western carried a 38-27 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Catamounts put up half-a-hundred to cruise to the win. There was at least some tense moments in the second half, as the Bulldogs commenced a pair of runs, cutting the Catamount lead to four following a 12-5 run early in the second frame, and another 10-3 run trimmed the WCU lead to five with 13 minutes remaining.
However, the Catamounts stretched it back to 12 following a 7-0 run with 11 minutes remaining and were never really threatened again. With just under four minutes left, a pair of Deriece Parks free throws stretched Western's lead to its largest, at 21 points (82-61), and at that point, Hunter's 700th win looked safe.
Samford was led by a stellar performance from big man Eric Adams, who finished with 21 points and collected 11 rebounds in the losing effort. Point guard Justin Coleman chipped in another stellar performance with 19 points and distributed six assists in the loss. Coleman and sophomore guard Josh Sharkey, who finished with 10 assists, contributed 16 of the team's 17 total assists in the contest. Western held a resounding 51-25 edge on the backboards in the win.
The Catamounts return to action Thursday night, with a trip to face VMI in a 7 p.m. contest at Cameron Hall. Meanwhile, Samford will be in the Upstate of South Carolina to face Wofford at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Wednesday night in a tip-off set for 7 p.m.
1. East Tennessee State (21-4, 12-0 SoCon)
2. UNC Greensboro (17-6, 8-2 SoCon)
3. Wofford (16-8, 7-4 SoCon)
T-3 Furman (16-8, 7-4 SoCon)
5. Western Carolina (11-13, 6-5 SoCon)
6. The Citadel (9-14, 4-7 SoCon)
7. Mercer (11-13, 4-7 SoCon)
8. Samford (8-17, 4-8 SoCon)
9. Chattanooga (8-17, 2-10 SoCon)
10. VMI (7-16, 2-10 SoCon)
Zane Najdawi on close loss to ETSU and team gaining confidence
“We definitely gained confidence in that game, and they’re the top team in the league and they haven’t lost and we only lost by two and a lot of us think we should have won that game and that just proves we can play with anyone in this league.”
Zane Najdawi on his stellar play of late
“It’s been a whole team effort not just me, and everyone’s been playing well together and we’ve been clicking as of late and we never give up even when people might count us out in games, but we believe in ourselves. ”
Zane Najdawi on tough early Schedule preparing The Citadel for SoCon play
“Playing tough teams in the beginning and we learned a lot and watched film and we learned from our mistakes and we learned a lot from it.”
Zane Najdawi on close loss to ETSU and gaining confidence
“We definitely gained confidence in that game, and they’re the top team in the league and they haven’t lost and we only lost by two and a lot of us think we should have won that game and that just proves we can play with anyone in this league.”
Head coach Bob Richey on The Citadel’s Play of Late
“Coach (Duggar) Baucom has this team playing really really well and with a lot of confidence and even tonight they didn’t flinch. We were up 17 points with 10 minutes to play and they kept fighting and I thought that they made a bunch of shots late and that’s what they do and that’s who they are. ”
"It's a totally different team and up at our place they were playing more zone pressure and back to a zone and you know they were trying to out-score you and I think this team right now and what they are doing is taking a little more pride in their defense."
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| Mercer ends four-game losing skid/Photo courtesy of the Mercer Cluster |
Mercer Hands Wofford Second-Straight Loss on the SoCon Road
For the second-straight time on the SoCon road, Wofford found itself on the wrong side of the scoreboard as Mercer claimed a 73-65 win over the Terriers Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.
With the win, the Bears kept pace with The Citadel and positioned themselves with a prime opportunity to achieve a top six seed for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament next month in Asheville, N.C., as the Bears improved to 11-13 overall and 4-7 in Southern Conference play. The loss saw Wofford drop to 16-8 overall and 7-4 in league action.
The Bears would use a career night from Ross Cummings in the absence of Ethan Stair and Ria'n Holland, as the Sophomore from Dickson, Tenn., posted a career-high 22 points in leading the Bears to an eight-point, come-from-behind win. Cummings scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half, to lead the Bears to the come-from-behind win. Fifteen of Cummings' 17 second-half points came on five three-pointers. Cummings was 5-for-5 from three-point range in the second half, and connected on 6-for-8 from three-point range on the day.
In the opening half, Mercer led 9-5 early in the opening half, but a 16-0 run by the Terriers helped Wofford to a 21-9 lead with 9:28 remaining in the half on a Cameron Jackson layup. But Mercer responded with an 11-0 run to cut the Wofford lead to just one (21-20) following Cummings' lone triple of the first half 2:34 remaining in the half. Wofford carried a narrow 26-24 lead to half.
The game would see-saw back and forth in the second half, with Wofford taking an initial five-point lead, at 36-31, early in the second frame only to see Mercer respond with an 8-0 run to take a 39-36 lead on a triple from Cummings with 14:25 remaining in the game. Another Cummings trey helped the Bears regain the lead once again, at 50-48, with 8:53 remaining. Wofford would answer Cummings' triple with a Donovan Theme-Love triple to put the Terriers, 51-50, with 8:22 remaining.
Mercer eventually regained the lead, 53-51, following a Jordan Strawberry with 6:57 left in the game, but Wofford would eventually regain the lead when Jackson converted a pair of free throws to give the Terriers a 59-58 lead with 4:39 left. But a pair of threes from Cummings and Demetre Rivers offered a stout response from the Bears, and Mercer assumed a 64-59 lead with 3:22 left. After a Jackson dunk cut Wofford's deficit to three with 2:20 left, Cummings' three to answer put Mercer back up by six (67-61) with 1:17 remaining.
Mercer's lead would grow to as many as eight in the final minute following a pair of Strawberry foul shots, and the Terriers could not get closer than six points the rest of the way, as the Bears snapped a four-game losing streak.
Wofford was led in the contest by Fletcher Magee, who recorded his 15th twenty-point game of the season, finishing with a game-high 23 points. Magee was a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe, but was just 2-for-11 from three-point land. Cameron Jackson added 13 points, while Trevor Stumpe finished with 12 to round out the double figure scorers for the Terriers.
Mercer returns to Southern Conference action Wednesday night, hosting Samford at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, while won't be back in action until next Saturday, traveling to Chattanooga for 5 p.m. contest.
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| ETSU cruises to a season sweeping win over Chattanooga/Photo courtesy of ETSU athletics |
Bradford's Strong Performance Helps ETSU to 15th-Straight Win
The win by the Bucs puts them within a victory of tying the school-record for consecutive wins (16), which was previously established by the 2003-04 Southern Conference champion ETSU team. With the win, the Bucs improved to 21-4 overall and 12-0 in SoCon play, while Chattanooga dropped to 8-17 overall and 2-10 in league action.
The win by the Bucs on Saturday tied the 1952-53 ETSU squad for second-most consecutive wins in school history with 15. In front of what was a sellout crowd of 6,149 fans, the Bucs continued to show why they have been the class of the Southern Conference so far, and it was another classy, strong effort from senior guard Desonta Bradford that proved to be the feature attraction.
Bradford, who was coming off a career-high 31 points in a win over Samford Thursday night, posted a team-high 22 points, while seven-foot senior center Peter Jurkin added 16 points and 13 rebounds to round out his second double-double of the season.
Defensively, the Bucs were stellar once again, holding the Mocs to just 39% shooting from the field and just 26% from the field. The Mocs were led in the contest by a game-high 26 points from Rodney Chatman, and he ended as the only Chattanooga player in double figures.
The Bucs won't return to action until Saturday, Feb. 10, when they travel to VMI to face the Keydets at Cameron Hall in a tip-off time set for 1 p.m. Chattanooga returns to Southern Conference action Thursday night, hosting red-hot Citadel in a 7 p.m. tip-off time set for McKenzie Arena.
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| Larry Hunter Collects 700th win as head coach Saturday night/Photo courtesy of Western Carolina Athletics |
Larry Hunter Joins Elite Company With 700th Career Win
The final game of the day saw Western Carolina host Samford in a key league showdown, with the winner looking to more secure in gaining a bye for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament next month in Asheville.
That team with would be Western Carolina, who posted an 88-71 win over the Bulldogs in SoCon action Saturday evening inside the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center. The win marked 38-year veteran head coach Larry Hunter's 700th in his career, and in his 13th year at the helm of the Western Carolina basketball program, registered his 191st win and his 110th against Southern Conference competition.
The 700 wins by Hunter puts him elite company in his NCAA Division I college basketball brethren, as he became one of just 40 coaches at the Division I level to reach that particular milestone.
The veteran leadership of junior forward JUCO transfer Mike Amius and senior guard Devin Peterson combined for 53 of the 88 points in helping the Catamounts improve to 11-13 overall and 6-5 in Southern Conference play, as Western Carolina remained in strong contention for one of the top six seeds in Asheville for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament next month. The loss dropped Samford to 8-17 overall and 4-8 in SoCon play. Head coach Scott Padgett's are now just 1-12 away from Birmingham this season.
Amius finished out the contest with one of the best career performances for the Purple and Gold, as he posted a career-high 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe, while Peterson contributed 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from three-point range to finish out his strong effort. Ashley Williams led the Catamounts on the boards, collecting a game and career-high 14 rebounds.
It didn't appear the game would end in Hunter's 700th win initially, as Samford ran out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes of game action, however, 9-1 run in response by the Catamounts tied the game, 9-9, with 13:26 to play in the first half. The Catamounts assumed their first lead a little over midway through the opening half on a layup by Amius to make it a 16-15 game with 9:38 remaining in the opening frame. After a pair of Bulldog free throws on the ensuing possession gave the Bulldogs a 17-16 lead, it would prove to be their final lead of the contest.
The Catamounts went on a 12-0 run from there and broke the game wide open, as the Bulldogs would never come within solid striking distance the rest of the way. Western carried a 38-27 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Catamounts put up half-a-hundred to cruise to the win. There was at least some tense moments in the second half, as the Bulldogs commenced a pair of runs, cutting the Catamount lead to four following a 12-5 run early in the second frame, and another 10-3 run trimmed the WCU lead to five with 13 minutes remaining.
However, the Catamounts stretched it back to 12 following a 7-0 run with 11 minutes remaining and were never really threatened again. With just under four minutes left, a pair of Deriece Parks free throws stretched Western's lead to its largest, at 21 points (82-61), and at that point, Hunter's 700th win looked safe.
Samford was led by a stellar performance from big man Eric Adams, who finished with 21 points and collected 11 rebounds in the losing effort. Point guard Justin Coleman chipped in another stellar performance with 19 points and distributed six assists in the loss. Coleman and sophomore guard Josh Sharkey, who finished with 10 assists, contributed 16 of the team's 17 total assists in the contest. Western held a resounding 51-25 edge on the backboards in the win.
The Catamounts return to action Thursday night, with a trip to face VMI in a 7 p.m. contest at Cameron Hall. Meanwhile, Samford will be in the Upstate of South Carolina to face Wofford at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Wednesday night in a tip-off set for 7 p.m.
Updated Power Rankings:
1. East Tennessee State (21-4, 12-0 SoCon)
2. UNC Greensboro (17-6, 8-2 SoCon)
3. Wofford (16-8, 7-4 SoCon)
T-3 Furman (16-8, 7-4 SoCon)
5. Western Carolina (11-13, 6-5 SoCon)
6. The Citadel (9-14, 4-7 SoCon)
7. Mercer (11-13, 4-7 SoCon)
8. Samford (8-17, 4-8 SoCon)
9. Chattanooga (8-17, 2-10 SoCon)
10. VMI (7-16, 2-10 SoCon)
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