Charleston, S.C. The Citadel Basketball (5-6, 0-2 SoCon) rallied back to put a mechanically sound Cornell College team away 71-63. The Bulldogs got great production from freshman guards Tyrell McDowell and junior Jonathan Brick added the spark that the Bulldogs needed. McDowell led the Bulldogs as he collected the first double-double of his career scoring 16 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Brick followed with a season high 13 points while freshmen Zach Urbanus, Cameron Wells, and Austin Dahn also scored in the double-digits.
The Bulldogs could not find their mark early as Cornell College jumped out to a 10-1 lead. Urbanus hit a jumper to close the deficit, but the Rams connected on a three pointer followed by a layup to give them their largest lead of the night at 15-3. The Bulldogs began to find their stroke as they hit some key baskets to close the Rams lead to four at 17-13. The Rams responded with five points of their own to rebuild their lead to nine. Once again the Dogs rallied back to close within three points of the Rams, but could not hold them off as the Rams closed out the half with another five point rally to leave the Bulldogs trailing at the half 29-21.
Urbanus and Dahn led the Bulldogs in scoring in the first half with five points each while McDowell and Matt Clark manned the boards with five a piece. The Rams' junior guard Griffin Ladew led all scorers with nine points and center Chris Handke grabbed five rebounds.
“We knew when we scheduled this game that it would be a tough challenge for our team,” said Bulldog Head Coach Ed Conroy. “We knew that they had good size players and ran a solid defense which is what we will be going up against when we begin our conference season Thursday against Elon.”
Coming out of halftime, the Rams struck first to add to their lead, but the Bulldogs picked up their play to manufacture an 8-0 run, which cut the lead to 31-29. The Citadel was able to tie the game at 34, but a stingy Cornell defense kept the Bulldogs at bay as the two teams battled back and forth. The Citadel got as close as one point of the Rams on three occasions, before the Bulldogs finally got their first lead of the night with 8:35 left in the second-half.
Cornell College tied and regained the lead at 52-51, but it would be for the last time as the Bulldogs worked a 15-4 exchange to open up their lead to 10 with 2:10 left in the game. The Bulldogs were solid down the stretch hitting 5-7 free-throws while providing a good defensive stand as The Citadel defeated Cornell College 73-71.
“I was really proud of Jon Brick as he had a tremendous second-half,” Conroy said. “He provided the aggressiveness that gave us momentum and confidence to knock down some big shots. I thought that our guys accepted the challenge of our coaching staff by addressing their responsibilities' on the court in the second-half. For a bunch of young guys, they are doing a good job of developing their skills everyday.”
The Citadel shot 62.1 percent from the field in the second-half scoring 50 points. McDowell and Brick really stepped up their games as McDowell had 13 points and eight boards while Brick scored 13 and was 5-7 from the free-throw line. Wells also had a nice second-half scoring nine, followed by Urbanus with six points and Dahn with five. McDowell picked up a double-double scoring 16 points and swiping 13 rebounds.
The Bulldogs will bring in the New Year and begin their Southern Conference season Thursday, Jan. 3 at 7:05 p.m. in McAlister Field House. Bulldog fans can catch the live action through an audio and video stream on www.CitadelSports.com through Bulldog Insider and on CNN 1450 with the voice of the Bulldogs, Robby Robinson. For more information on Bulldog Basketball or The Citadel Athletics, go to www.CitadelSports.com.
