February 3, 2002

CHATTANOOGA, TENN - The Citadel's losing streak reached four games Saturday night in an 84-77 loss to Chattanooga.

To stop the skid from reaching five games, the Bulldogs will have to beat archrival College of Charleston Monday night at McAlister Field House.

"We'll regroup and we'll be ready to play," Citadel coach Pat Dennis said before boarding a bus that would not arrive back in Charleston until 4 a.m. this morning.

The logjam at the top of the Southern Conference South Division was eased by Saturday's results, as the Bulldogs (13-8, 5-5) fell out of what had been a four-way tie for first place.

The College of Charleston (16-5, 6-4) and Chattanooga (13-10, 6-4) are now tied for the top spot, with The Citadel and Georgia Southern (12-9, 5-5) a game back.

Monday's rematch with College of Charleston, a 77-65 winner over the Bulldogs on Jan. 21, looms as a big one for The Citadel. A loss would drop the Bulldogs two games back with only five games left in the SoCon regular season.

Against Chattanooga, senior roommates Travis Cantrell and Alan Puckett both broke the school record for career 3-pointers, scoring 23 and 12 points, respectively. And senior forward Cliff Washburn added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Bulldogs led by as many as nine points in the second half.

But the Mocs, who lost by 72-64 at The Citadel on Jan. 19, closed with a rush. Reserve guard Petie Spaulding scored all 16 of his points in the second half as Chattanooga ended the game on a 28-16 run.

"We played 30 minutes of very good ball," said Dennis, whose team had fallen way behind Appalachian State and Furman in its last two losses. "But I think we got tired down the stretch and they got some open looks against us. We had some breakdowns at the point defensively; our point-guard defense was atrocious.

"But I'll take a split with Chattanooga every year. They've got a very talented team."

Cantrell hit 7 of 15 from 3-point range, giving him 234 3-point baskets in his career. Puckett was 4 of 10 and now has 231 career treys. Cantrell and Puckett, already the top 3-point shooting duo in SoCon history, both broke the school record of 230 career 3-pointers held by Noy Castillo (1994-97).

"Our three seniors played their hearts out," Dennis said. "They just gave us everything they had and I could never be upset with them. They want to win so bad, and we are going to win. We just have to get on a roll here."

The Bulldogs pulled out to a 45-36 lead early in the second half on Puckett's trey, and still led by 61-56 with 9:43 left after Washburn's turnaround jumper.

But Spaulding, a 6-0 junior who scored 20 points in the Mocs' earlier loss to The Citadel, got hot again. He hit a trey to cap a 10-2 run for a 66-63 Mocs lead, then scored the next six Chattanooga points as the Mocs pulled out to a 74-67 lead.

The Bulldogs closed to within 74-72 on a Puckett trey and a Mike Joseph jumper, but Spauling hit 8 of 8 free throws in the final minute to keep the Dogs at bay.

Joseph added 13 points for the Bulldogs, and sophomore guard Erick Wilson had eight assists. Clyde McCully scored 14 points for Chattanooga, while Nick Benson and Dusty Pullian had 12 each and reserve Tim Parker 11, including two big 3-pointers in the second half.

Tickets are still available for Monday's Citadel-College of Charleston game at McAlister. Tickets are $10 each. For information, call 953-5121.