Box Score (PDF)

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel men's basketball team fell to Mercer 89-78 on Saturday afternoon in McAlister Field House. Three Bulldogs scored in double figures but the Bears converted six free throws in the final 40 seconds to earn the Southern Conference win.
 
With a little over 12 minutes to go in the half, Mercer (13-15, 7-8 SoCon) held a 24-15 lead until a 5-0 spurt by The Citadel (9-19, 2-13 SoCon) pulled the Bulldogs within four. But the Bears answered with a 9-0 run to push their lead to 13. The Citadel was unable to get closer than 10 after that run with Mercer hitting big shots each time the Bulldogs found some rhythm. The Bears ended the half with a floater right before the buzzer to take a 50-36 lead into halftime.
 
Mercer was on fire in the first half, shooting 57.1 percent from the floor compared to The Citadel's 46.4 percent. Tyler Burgess picked up right where he left off in the VMI game, drilling two treys within 30 seconds of checking in and finishing the half with a team-high nine points.
 
The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 7-0 run, cutting the lead to 50-43 with 18 minutes remaining but the Bears once again responded with a run of their own to push their lead back to 13. The Citadel then turned it up on defense, forcing three turnovers and scoring eight straight points, including back-to-back three-pointers by Matt Frierson, to claw back within five points. Mercer turned the ball over just three times in the first half but head coach Duggar Baucom and company forced 10 in the last 20 minutes of play, scoring 15 points off those miscues.  
 
Preston Parks pulled the Bulldogs within three with his fourth trey of the game at the 6:06 mark but Mercer countered with a three ball with 5:14 remaining to push the gap back to six. The Citadel was able to close the gap to three one other time following a trey by Zane Najdawi at the 3:43 mark but Mercer made consecutive layups and six free throws in the last 1:40 to clinch the 89-78 win.
 
Parks led The Citadel with 24 points for his 12th 20-point game of the season. The freshman hit four treys in the contest and finished one assist shy of a double-double. Najdawi poured in 17 points, finishing seven-of-14 from the floor with seven rebounds. Frierson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points on four-of-six shooting from three-point range. The Bulldogs had just five free throw attempts in the contest compared to Mercer's 21.
 
The Bulldogs continue their homestand on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. tip against Western Carolina. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com.
 
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