March 1, 2002
In past years, Citadel basketball players would gather in a hotel room the night before the Southern Conference Tournament.
The topic of discussion - the Bulldogs' ugly record in tournament play, and what to do about it.
"It was sort of a tradition," said senior guard Travis Cantrell. "We'd talk about winning the tournament, how important it would be for the program. We'd say, 'Let's win the tournament, let's win the tournament.' ''
But on Wednesday night - the night before The Citadel opened the SoCon Tournament against military school rival VMI at North Charleston Coliseum - the Bulldogs did away with that particular tradition.
"We wanted to treat it like any other game," Cantrell said.
By ignoring the pressure of past tournament failures, the Bulldogs freed themselves to achieve a rare tournament victory Thursday, an 80-70 win over VMI and the nation's leading scorer, Jason Conley.
Conley, on track to become the first freshman to lead the nation in scoring, totaled 29 points and put on a show as he tried to rally VMI (10-18) by scoring 16 of his team's 18 points in one second-half stretch.
But the Bulldogs had too much team for Conley's one-man act, Cantrell leading four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points. Senior Cliff Washburn had 14 points, and juniors Mike Joseph (13 points, seven rebounds) and Romas Krywonis (11 points, 10 boards) provided solid support.
"A huge monkey off our backs," said senior Alan Puckett, who along with fellow seniors Cantrell and Washburn tasted victory in the tournament for the first time. "Any time we run into the fans or anyone, they tell us it's a tradition that The Citadel goes out on the first day. We wanted to get rid of that tradition."The Citadel's first tournament victory since 1998 (and its second since 1985; the Bulldogs are 9-49 all-time) put the 17-11 Bulldogs into the quarterfinals at noon today against North Division No. 1 seed Davidson (18-9), an injury-plagued team that has lost three of its last five games.
The Citadel beat Davidson by 69-50 back in December as the Wildcats were coming off exam week. That game means little now, Puckett said.
"That was so early in the season, we're both different teams now," Puckett said.
"I give Davidson a lot of credit, they really turned their season around since then."
But the Wildcats lost forward Emeke Erege after just 13 games, and starting guards Wayne Bernard (hip) and Michael Bree (leg) were injured in Davidson's final regular-season game, an 81-77 loss at VMI. Their status today is uncertain.
Conley's status as a premier player was confirmed by his performance Thursday, as he took over for VMI in the second half. With the Keydets down by 52-45, the 6-5 SoCon player of the year scored 16 of his team's next 18 points (he assisted on the other basket).
His 3-pointer tied the score at 58-58 with 7:39 left. But Cantrell came right back with a trey of his own - his only one of the game - and the Keydets never pulled even again.
"Boy, I thought Conley had 50," Citadel coach Pat Dennis said. "He seemed to score every time he touched the ball. We didn't do as good a job on him as we did in our first game (when Conley had 26), but he had to work hard to get the ball and I think he got tired at the end."
Conley missed three free throws with a chance to pull the Keydets within seven with 1:49 left in the game.
"It wasn't fatigue," Conley said. "I think The Citadel did a good job on defense. I saw a lot of double teams. I even came off a screen once without the ball, and there were still two guys there."
At the end, a surprisingly large lunchtime crowd gave the Bulldogs a standing ovation as they ran off the floor, Cantrell pointing a "We're No. 1" finger at the fans.
"The fans were tremendous, and I didn't expect that big a crowd at noon," Dennis said. "I guess a lot of them had to get out of work. We need them to get of work again (today)."
* Cantrell and Puckett will tie the school record of 113 games played today against Davidson. Washburn will be one game behind at 112.
* Krywonis' double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds was his second of the season. He had 10 points and 13 rebounds in a win over South Carolina State in January.
* In that first game with Davidson, Cantrell scored 17 points and Joseph had 18. Davidson made just 16 of 44 shots (32 percent) and was out-rebounded 36-26. Bree led the Wildcats with 16 points.
