November 23, 2002
Disaster wasn't exactly lurking, but it was definitely in the building when Citadel basketball coach Pat Dennis drew a technical foul late in the second half Friday night.
An overmatched Webber International team - from an NAIA school of about 650 students in Babson Park, Fla. - had sliced a 16-point deficit to just seven, and a tiny opening night crowd of 675 fans shifted uncomfortably in their seats at McAlister Field House.
That's when Citadel senior Mike Joseph took charge. The 6-4 forward grabbed a rebound and scored, then executed a neat pump fake and drove to the rim for another bucket. Another Joseph bucket finished off an 8-0 run, and the Bulldogs pulled away for an 83-60 victory in their season opener.
Joseph finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, and junior forward Max Mombollet added a career-best 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who won despite making just 29 of 71 shots, including 7 of 26 from 3-point range.
"At that point, I just felt it was time for the seniors to step up," said Joseph, one of six seniors on Dennis' 11th Citadel team. "Stuff was going bad, and it was time to huddle them up and regroup, and make sure that we kept playing hard."
Said Dennis, "You never want to get a technical, but that's when we got some energy. We started slapping the floor and decided hey, let's get after this thing. It might have worked in our favor. When it got a little scary, we picked up our defensive intensity tremendously and put the game away."
The Citadel held Webber International (3-3) to 8-of-33 shooting in the second half, and the Warriors managed only one field goal in the final 9:39 of the game, the Bulldogs scoring the final 10 points of the contest. The Citadel forced 22 turnovers, stole the ball 11 times and blocked nine shots, three by 6-7 senior Romas Krywonis.
The victory demonstrated some of the offensive challenges the Bulldogs face this year after losing the trio of Cliff Washburn, Travis Cantrell and Alan Puckett, who led The Citadel to back-to-back winning records the last two years. Cantrell was a 3-point gunner who averaged 16.6 points per game last season; the Bulldogs were 13-6 a year ago when Cantrell led the team in scoring, 4-6 when he didn't.
On Friday, Webber International opened in what Dennis called a "junk defense", a diamond-and-one focusing on Joseph, the Bulldogs' leading returning scorer. That left Citadel guards wide open for a variety of jump shots, but the Dogs could make just 14 of 41 shots in the first half, including 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
"You don't usually see that stuff early in the season, and it stymied us a little bit," Dennis said. "We got open looks, we just didn't hit them and we got a little tentative. We'll be fine shooting the ball, but we've got to step up and shoot the ball, not worry about it and go to the glass."
Starting guards Erick Wilson (3 of 10 for 10 points) and Clyde Wormley (3 of 9 for 12 points) blew hot and cold, and senior guard Kenny Milford got in quick foul trouble. That left freshman guards Kevin Hammack and Dante Terry on the floor in crunch time in the second half. Hammack scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting with a team-high six assists, and Terry's lone basket was a big one, a 3-pointer to put the Dogs up by 14 with 5:17 left.
The Citadel takes a two-game road trip next week, playing Monday at Navy and Wednesday at defending national champ Maryland.
