February 19, 2002
A nine-hour bus ride and a tough Sunday practice might have been just what a struggling Citadel basketball team needed.
The Bulldogs took a step toward reviving a once-promising season with a 75-55 blowout victory over the nation's leading scorer, Jason Conley, and VMI Monday night at Cameron Hall.
"We played great," Bulldogs coach Pat Dennis said. "It was just what the doctor ordered."
Senior Travis Cantrell, playing in front of a large group from his hometown in Floyd, Va., hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points. He became the Southern Conference's No. 2 all-time 3-point shooter with 247 career 3-pointers.
Senior Cliff Washburn added 13 points and junior Mike Joseph 12.
Conley, a 6-5 freshman, hit 7 of 16 shots on the night and scored 26 points for the Keydets.
The Citadel's victory stopped a slide of seven losses in eight games and at 15-11 assured the Bulldogs of their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1979-80. The Citadel is 7-8 in the Southern Conference and tied for fourth place in the South Division with Furman (7-8). The Bulldogs can still can finish in a tie for second place, if Chattanooga (8-7) and Georgia Southern (8-7) each drop their final games and The Citadel beats Wofford Saturday afternoon at McAlister Field House.
Chattanooga is at home against Western Carolina Saturday and Georgia Southern plays host to College of Charleston. Furman is at UNC Greensboro.
After a 95-86 loss at Georgia Southern Saturday, the Bulldogs arrived in Lexington early Sunday morning. That night, Dennis put them through a physical workout, focusing on taking charges and going after loose balls.
"We just had to get tougher," Dennis said. "And I think it helped. The way we played (Monday) was the way we have to play the rest of the way. We were active, our hands were active, we moved our feet. Our defense and rebounding was the difference in the game."
Cantrell had six steals as the Bulldogs totaled 17 steals and forced 24 VMI turnovers, out-rebounding the Keydets (9-17, 4-11) by 42-27. Conley, averaging 29.5 points, got his 26 and Daron Pressley added 14 and Radee Skipworth 10. But 12 other VMI players totaled only five points.
"Conley is great, and we knew he'd get his," Dennis said. "I didn't even worry about Conley. We had to stop their other guys, and I thought we did that."
The Bulldogs closed the first half with an 18-2 run to take control of the game, going from 25-19 down to 37-27 ahead by intermission. Erick Wilson and Cantrell both hit 3-pointers during that stretch, and Romas Krywonis capped it with a last-second save to Clyde Wormley, who hit a short jumper at the buzzer.
The Citadel didn't slow down in the second half, outscoring VMI by 11-2 to start the second half and stretch its lead to 19 at 48-29.
VMI closed to within 50-37 on a Conley jumper, but The Citadel responded with an 8-0 run as Cantrell hit his fourth and fifth 3-pointers for a 58-37 lead. The Bulldogs' advantage reached 25 points at 69-44 on a Joseph basket with 7:23 left.
* Though the Bulldogs can still finish in a tie for second place in the South, it doesn't appear they can earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. Their only chance to tie for second is if Chattanooga and Georgia Southern both lose Saturday, putting three teams at 8-8. Those three each would have split two games with the other.
According to the SoCon media guide, the next tie-breaker in a three-way tie is the teams' record against the next highest seed. If Furman (7-8) loses at UNC Greensboro Saturday, that team would be the Paladins, and they swept The Citadel this season.
If Furman beats UNC Greensboro to go 8-8, its 2-0 record against The Citadel would give Furman the tie-breaker advantage over the Bulldogs.
