November 27, 2002

With six seniors on his team, Citadel coach Pat Dennis has more experienced players on his squad than he's had in years.

But for most of their careers, those seniors were role players, the supporting cast for three seasons to departed standouts Travis Cantrell, Alan Puckett and Cliff Washburn. Now, with those three 1,000-point career scorers gone, Dennis needs some players to step up.

Through the season's first two games, only junior forward Max Mombollet and freshman guard Kevin Hammack have made such steps. Starting with tonight's game at national champion Maryland, Dennis wants to see some of those seniors step forward as well.

"The effort is there, and the guys are playing hard. But we've got to find a way to generate more points out of them (the seniors)," said Dennis, whose six seniors combined for 16 points in Monday's 57-51 loss at Navy. Seniors Mike Joseph, Kenny Milford, Romas Krywonis, Gregg Jones, Clyde Wormley and Ben Tobias will have to adjust to new and bigger roles.

Joseph, a 6-4 forward, is the top returning scorer from last year's 17-12 team, when he averaged 12.1 points on 46.1 percent shooting. He got off to a good start with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the season-opening 83-60 win over Webber International.

But against Navy, Joseph took four shots and scored four points, though he grabbed 10 rebounds. Milford, the quick guard whose preseason scoring had Dennis excited, is 1 of 11 with three points in two games. Wormley, a 6-4 guard, had 12 points in the opener, none against Navy.

The Bulldogs are a combined 14 of 45 from 3-point range, a not-terrible 31.1 percent. But aside from freshmen Hammack (6 of 14) and Dante Terry (2 of 2), the rest of the team is 6 of 29.

"We've got to find a way to manufacture some points," Dennis said. "But it is a learning process. When you lose three 1,000-point scorers, it will take a while to learn how to play without them."

Hammack scored 16 points against Navy, and has 29 in two games. Mombollet, the 6-8 junior, is averaging 17 points and 8.5 rebounds.

"And," Dennis said, "I love the way we've been playing defense. We're better than we have been on that side."

The Dogs have held their first two foes to a 58.5-point average on 37.3 percent shooting. The challenge will be much greater against the 11th-ranked Terps.