December 6, 2002
Like a mad scientist working feverishly in the lab, Citadel coach Pat Dennis has spent the first two weeks of the basketball season seeking the secret formula - the combination of players and style that would give the Bulldogs a chance to win.
On Thursday night, the Bulldogs might have run right into such a style.
With two freshman guards in the game for much of the night, The Citadel pushed the ball up the floor and sprinted to an 82-67 victory over Big South Conference contender High Point before 1,122 fans at McAlister Field House.
The 82 points were 30 more than the 2-3 Bulldogs had averaged in losing their last three games, and The Citadel - shooting a painful 36.9 percent coming into the game - made 27 of 49 shots for a sizzling 55.1 percent. Five players scored in double figures, led by senior forward Mike Joseph with 17 points and freshman guard Dante Terry with 13.
"I think the kids are starting to realize how we have to play to win," said Dennis, whose team had averaged just 52 points in losing games to Navy, Maryland and Charleston Southern. "We've got to push the ball and we've got to run. It loosened us up a lot on offense, and we weren't grinding it out, feeling like we have to score on every possession. We're going to have a few more turnovers playing that way, but you've got to live with that."
Dennis also tinkered with his rotation, finding 23 minutes off the bench for Terry, the 6-2 freshman from Norfolk, Va. Terry responded by hitting 5 of 8 shots (3 of 4 from 3-point range) for his 13 points, and he had just one turnover.
"The coaches told me to be ready, because they were switching me to the blue team," said Terry, who has made 5 of 6 3-point shots this season. "They said, 'You have to be ready. You can't play like a freshman.'"
Terry often teamed with starting freshman point guard Kevin Hammack, and the Bulldogs made a second-half run with three guards - Hammack, Terry and senior Kenny Milford - on the floor at the same time.
"It's scary when you look up and you've got two freshman guards out there," Dennis said. "But Dante has been playing well in practice, and we thought it was time to give him a chance. He's not there yet on defense, but he can shoot and he's got a good court savvy about him."
High Point (2-3), coached by 39-year veteran Jerry Steele - who has coached 1,075 games in his career (winning 604 of them) and played at Wake Forest with Billy Packer - was coming off an 84-64 loss at Kentucky. The Panthers trailed Kentucky - coached by Steele's former player, Tubby Smith - by just six at halftime.
On Thursday, High Point forward Danny Gathings, a 6-6 transfer from Virginia Tech, scored 10 of his game-high 24 points during a 13-2 run that gave the Panthers a 48-45 lead with 14:12 left.
The Bulldogs responded with a 26-9 run for a 71-57 lead with 4:54 to go. Senior forwards Romas Krywonis (11 points) and Gregg Jones (10 points, five blocks) started the run by combining for three inside baskets. Terry hit a 3-pointer, and Milford made two nice passes to Joseph and Jones for buckets. The highlight - a 3-on-1 break featuring a sweet touch pass from Hammack to Max Mombollet (11 points) for a 62-52 lead after a steal by Ben Tobias.
Terry hit another trey, and Joseph scored on the break again for 71-57. High Point never got closer than 10 after that.
"It felt good," said Joseph, who also had five assists and five rebounds.
"Coach wanted us to get out and push the ball off the rebound, and quit stopping to watch the ball. He wants us to get out and run first and see what we have, then pull it out and set up. It keeps us from getting stagnant like we have at times in the past."
Said Dennis, "We've worked a lot on pushing the ball and just playing. And then when we did run our sets, we executed much better. In the second half, we just locked our post players inside and we were able to get the ball into Max and Romas and Gregg. But pushing the offense was definitely the key."
Now that they've settled on a style, the Bulldogs will work to refine it the next two games against two Division III foes, Oglethorpe on Monday and Southwestern on Dec. 18 before taking on South Carolina State on Dec. 21.
