Box Score (PDF)

LEXINGTON, Va. – The Citadel men's basketball team fell at VMI 101-78 on Saturday afternoon inside Cameron Hall.
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VMI (6-17, 3-9 SoCon) scored the first basket of the game but The Citadel (9-18, 2-12 SoCon) scored the next four and hit a pair of free throws in two minutes to race out to a 10-2 lead against the rival Keydets.
 
But VMI roared back and answered with eight straight points, while The Citadel went scoreless for 2:44, to tie the game at 13-13 with 13 minutes remaining. VMI then retook the lead at the 10:35 mark after converting an and-one and then extended it to a four-point advantage on the next possession after hitting a three-pointer. The Keydets held the 'Dogs without a field goal for seven minutes before Warren Sledge made a reverse layup to cut into the Keydets' 25-21 lead.
 
The Citadel regained the lead at the 7:34 mark after Tyler Burgess checked in and immediately drilled a trey and then hit another one minute later to make it 29-25 and cap off a 10-0 run by the 'Dogs. But with 4:38 remaining in the half, VMI retook the lead and did not relinquish it for the rest of the frame, taking a 43-42 lead into the locker room. Preston Parks led the 'Dogs with 14 points while Burgess chipped in nine in the first 20 minutes. Neither team shot over 40 percent from the floor in a half that featured seven ties.
 
VMI opened the second half with nine straight points, pushing its lead to 10 with 17 minutes remaining. The Bulldogs were held scoreless until the 16:35 mark, when Parks hit a jumper to make it just an eight-point gap. But the Keydets continued to hit big shots and pushed their lead to as many as 25 en route to the 101-78 win.
 
Parks poured in a career-high 33 points in the contest, marking his second 30-point game of the season and the 10th time he's been the team's leading scorer. Burgess also scored a career-high 12 points, accounting for four of the Bulldogs' seven three-pointers in the game. The freshman provided a spark off the bench for head coach Duggar Baucom against ETSU and VMI, hitting more three-pointers in the past two games than the first 25 games of the season combined. Sledge rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, going a perfect eight-for-eight from the charity stripe. The Citadel was held to just seven treys in the contest but got 57 points from its bench.
 
The Bulldogs now return home to host Mercer on Feb. 18. The 1 p.m. game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com.
 
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