CHARLESTON, S.C. – Ashton Moore drove home a game-high 29 points, scoring 21 in the second half, to lead The Citadel to a 69-66 victory over Southern Conference rival Wofford on Thursday evening at McAlister Field House. The seventh home victory improves the Bulldogs to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in league play.
 
Trailing 64-59 at the 3:30 mark of the second half, following a pair of Spencer Collins free throws, Marshall Harris III brought The Citadel fans to their feet when he found Jake Wright, who connected on a 3-pointer deep from the left corner. Wright was fouled in the act of shooting by Collins and followed with a free throw to trim the Terriers deficit to one.
 
Collins quickly answered with a jumper from the right elbow, stretching the Wofford (13-5, 4-1 SoCon) lead back to three with less than three minutes remaining.
 
Wright again came through in the clutch for the Dogs, shaking his way past Collins to hit a 20-foot jumper and in the process make for a 66-65 contest. Solid defensive efforts by The Citadel forced Karl Cochran to commit a turnover on the following possession, giving the Cadets the ball with 1:51 left.
 
After a timeout by the Terriers, Moore followed his own 3-point miss with a circus layup to provide The Citadel with a 67-66 advantage at the 1:22 mark. That slim lead marked the Dogs first since they lead 4-2 early in opening minutes.
 
Missed opportunities on both ends of the court allowed Wofford to have the final possession with 27 seconds remaining. Cochran, facing pressure from Moore, fumbled the ball away into the hands of Moore who shoveled it ahead to Harris. Harris was quickly fouled by Cochran, sending the senior shooter to the charity stripe.  
 
Harris, an 83 percent free throw shooter this season when at the line in the final five minutes of a game decided by 10 points or less, calmly knocked down both attempts to forge the Dogs in front 69-66. Wofford inbounded the ball with 2.3 seconds remaining and a 3-point attempt by Collins sailed off the rim to give The Citadel its first victory over the Terriers since Jan. 31, 2013.
 
Moore capped off his season-high in points, netting 21 in the second half, by virtue of hitting 10-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-10 from 3-point range. The 10 field goals are one off his career-high set during a career-best 35-point performance against Davidson a season ago, while the six 3-pointers are the most since he knocked down a career-best seven against Virginia Tech on Dec. 20.
 
Quinton Marshall also topped the double-digit mark for The Citadel, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds. Marshall slithered his way past Wofford's front line to finish with a game-high four offensive boards. He was joined on the glass by Brian White who hauled in six rebounds (four defensive).

The Citadel finished 23-of-41 (56.1%) from the floor, including 13-of-22 (59.1%) in the second half, to mark the third-largest second half comeback (14 points) under head coach Chuck Driesell. The Bulldogs have now hit at least 50 percent from the floor in their last five contests, the first time that that feat has accomplished this century.
 
The Bulldogs can credit a bulk of the comeback with their ability to hit from beyond the arc as they closed 9-of-14 (64.3%) for the game and 5-of-7 (71.4%) in the second half.
 
Wofford was led offensively by Cochran who came away with 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting from the field. The senior guard managed 18 by the intermission, knocking down all six field goals from 3-point range.
 
Collins added 12 points for the Terriers, hitting 4-of-10 from the floor and finishing a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Meanwhile, C.J. Neumann anchored the post with six rebounds, pulling down four on defense.
 
The Terriers capped off the contest by hitting 23-of-51 (45.1%) from the field and 8-of-21 (38.1%) from long distance. After a first half that witnessed seven of 13 conversions from 3-point range, Wofford managed just 1-of-7 from 3-point range in the second half and 10-of-21 overall.
 
The Citadel remains at home throughout the weekend when it hosts fellow Upstate rival Furman on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. Against the Paladins, Bulldog fans are encouraged to wear their Citadel basketball "BLUE OUT" t-shirts for free admission.