February 24, 2002
Senior Day at The Citadel was a success - thanks to junior achievement by Mike Joseph and Gregg Jones.
On a day when The Citadel bid good-bye to an accomplished trio of seniors, juniors Joseph and Jones made sure they went out as winners, combining for 33 points and 13 rebounds in a 72-63 victory over Wofford before 1,547 at McAlister Field House.
Joseph, the powerfully built 6-4 guard who has been on a scoring tear of late, totaled 17 points and six rebounds. Jones, 6-8 and nursing a sore foot, nevertheless ran the floor with energy and contributed 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
"They both played great," senior guard Travis Cantrell said. "They hit a bunch of clutch shots at the end, Gregg crashing the boards and Mike giving us a big body to drive in there to get some shots off. They really picked us up today."
The Citadel, which has emerged from a skid of seven losses in eight games to win its last two, now enters the Southern Conference Tournament with a 16-11 record (8-8 in the SoCon) and some momentum. The Bulldogs, No. 4 in the South Division, can't be displeased with the way the tournament sets up for them. They open at noon Thursday at the North Charleston Coliseum against North No. 5 VMI, a team it blew out by 75-55 last Monday.
Win that game, and the Bulldogs get North No. 1 Davidson, a team it beat by 19 points in December.
On Saturday, Cantrell and fellow seniors Alan Puckett and Cliff Washburn were presented with framed photos and commemorative basketballs, but those were the last things they were given in their final home games. None of the three was able to score in double figures, though Washburn did get his 1,000th career point (joining Cantrell and Puckett in the club) on a free throw with 19 seconds left.
"I did it at the last second, just like I do everything else," joked Washburn, who had seven points and six rebounds.
Wofford (11-17, 5-11) denied open looks to Cantrell and Puckett, the top 3-point shooting duo in SoCon history, holding the pair to 3 of 12 on 3-pointers. Cantrell scored nine points, failing to crack double digits for just the fourth time in 27 games, and Puckett added three.
But the Bulldogs, seeming to regain their energy on defense in victories over VMI and Wofford this week, held the Terriers to 33.9 percent shooting. They limited Wofford's quick guards, who totaled 57 points in a 73-64 overtime win over The Citadel Jan. 7, to 41 points Saturday, including 18 from junior Mike Lenzly and 12 from junior Lee Nixon of Hanahan High School.
The Bulldogs also out-rebounded Wofford by 45-36, with junior Romas Krywonis getting 10 boards to go with seven points.
"We made them take some bad 3-pointers, and I thought Mike Joseph made a couple of bad-looking shots," said Wofford coach Richard Johnson, a 1976 Citadel grad coaching his final regular-season game to end a 17-year career. "But to their credit, The Citadel got some second-chance baskets and made the hustle plays that we didn't make. That really was the difference."
Nobody played with more hustle than Jones, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, a performance reminiscent of his 18-point, 11-rebound outburst in a win over Georgia Southern Jan. 14.
Jones tipped in two rebounds early in the second half, and his banked-in hook shot with 5:51 left gave the Dogs the lead for good at 56-55. He ran the floor to follow up a Cantrell miss on the break for a 61-55 lead with 4:29 left. Joseph, averaging 16 points in the last seven games, made four of six free throws in the final 1:20.
"The guys off the bench, we have to make sure we come in and bring a boost," said Jones, who made 8 of 10 free throws as Wofford was determined not to give up any easy shots to the Dogs' big men. "Coach always says to come in with energy, and that's what I was trying to do."
Said Washburn, "That's why I don't worry about this team, because we've got guys like Gregg who can step up when we need it."
* Washburn's 1,000th point was an adventure, as officials mistakenly sent teammate Clyde Wormley to the free-throw line late in the game. Wormley made both free throws before Wofford's Johnson alerted officials to the mistake. Wormley's points were wiped off, and Washburn - stuck on 999 points - made 1-of-2 free throws with 19 seconds left for 1,000.
* Wofford coach Richard Johnson is turning over the reins to assistant Mike Young as Johnson takes over as full-time athletic director. A '76 Citadel grad, he admitted to some emotion coaching his final regular-season game at McAlister, where he played from 1973-76.
"I'm a Wofford man, but I've always been a Citadel man," said Johnson, who had words with some Bulldogs after the January game in Spartanburg. "And I'll tell you what, I like The Citadel a lot better since (athletic director) Les Robinson is running things. Anything Les is involved with is a good deal."
