Box Score (PDF)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Citadel men's basketball team earned its first Southern Conference win of the season on Monday evening, downing in-state rival Wofford in overtime 104-103. The Bulldogs had six finish in double figures and forced 23 turnovers as The Citadel picked up its first win in Spartanburg since 2007.
 
It took nearly two minutes into the game before either team scored but Wofford (6-9, 1-1 SoCon) got into the scoring column first, making two free throws to take a 2-0 lead. The Terriers extended their lead to four in the opening minutes before Kaelon Harris made a jumper to make it a 4-2 game.
 
Harris gave the Bulldogs (8-8, 1-2 SoCon) their first lead of the game with two free throws at the 15 minute mark and then added to that lead with a tough layup seconds later, making it an 11-8 lead for The Citadel.
 
The Citadel's defense was stout in the first half and with under 10 minutes remaining, the Bulldogs forced back-to-back steals and converted layups to push their lead to 25-19. The Citadel stretched the gap to 27-19 two possessions later.
 
Matt Frierson's first three-pointer in the game gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the contest with 8:08 remaining. After a missed shot and a defensive rebound by the Terriers, Frierson hustled to get back on defense and deflected the ball to Preston Parks. Parks grabbed the ball and then found Frierson in the corner, who drilled the trey, with a sweet behind-the-back pass to give the Bulldogs a 30-21 lead.
 
Wofford responded with a 5-0 run to close the Bulldogs' lead to three but a trey by Parks with under four minutes to go pushed the lead back to six.
 
With under 50 seconds remaining in the half, Frierson connected on back-to-back treys to hand The Citadel a 46-37 lead heading into the halftime break. The sophomore finished with a team-best nine points in the half, going three-for-four from beyond the arc. Despite hitting just five threes in the half, The Citadel led for 14:54 and scored 16 points off of turnovers.
 
Wofford opened the second half on 7-0 run, closing the Bulldogs' lead to two but Zane Najdawi ended the run with a jumper in the paint to push it back to four.
 
With 14:46 remaining in regulation, the Terriers hit a runner while being fouled to tie the game and then converted the three-point play to take a 54-53 lead. But Harris responded with five straight points to give the 58-54 lead back to the Bulldogs. Parks then scored five straight points of his own, giving The Citadel a 76-67 lead heading into the under-eight media timeout.
 
The Terriers then went on a monster 15-0 run from 7:26 to 4:52 to take a six-point lead. But the Bulldogs fought back and with 1:55 remaining Harris calmly sank two free throws to pull The Citadel within three.
 
Following a timeout, Parks nailed a three to tie the game at 91-91 with 1:14 remaining. After turnovers by both teams, Johnson had one final chance to win the game in regulation but his heave from half court at the buzzer just missed and the game moved to overtime.
 
Harris opened the scoring in overtime with a three-pointer for The Citadel but Wofford responded with a jumper in the paint. Harris then hit a contested jumper the next time down the floor to give the Bulldogs a three-point lead.
 
With 52 seconds remaining, Parks sank two free throws to give the 'Dogs a 102-96 lead but Wofford made two of its own to pull within four with 36 seconds left. Another bucket by the Terriers seconds later cut the lead to two.
 
Johnson then got fouled and stepped to the line, calmly hitting his only two free throws of the night with 32 seconds remaining in overtime, extending the lead to four. The freebies were crucial as Wofford came down and hit a deep three with 10 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game but the Bulldogs were able to throw the ball in and run out the clock, sealing the road victory.  
 
The contest was the second overtime game of the season for the Bulldogs and first overtime victory on the road since Feb. 19, 2015 at Furman.
 
Harris led the 'Dogs with 23 points and Parks followed close behind with 19. Najdawi, Frierson, White and Tom Koopman rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Bulldogs. Head coach Duggar Baucom and company led for 33:30 in the contest and got 57 points from their bench.
 
With 19 steals tonight, The Citadel has recorded double-digit steals in eight games this season.
 
The Bulldogs now return home to host ETSU on Jan. 5 and VMI on Jan. 7. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com. For tickets, visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.
 
For more information on The Citadel basketball, follow @CitadelHoops or visit CitadelSports.com.