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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel men's basketball team starts a busy final week of the 2016-17 regular season on Wednesday with three games in six days including two contests inside McAlister Field House.
 
The Bulldogs fell 89-78 to Mercer on Feb. 18 despite strong performances from Preston Parks, Zane Najdawi and Matt Frierson. Parks poured in 24 points for his 12th 20-point game of the season while Najdawi chipped in 17.The Citadel, currently ranked 25th in the NCAA in free throws attempted, got to the line just five times in the game compared to Mercer's 21 attempts.
 
Western Carolina comes to Charleston on Wednesday on a six-game skid with its most recent loss coming at Wofford on Feb. 18. The 7-21 Catamounts are 2-13 when playing away from home this year and currently rank last in scoring offense in the conference with 59.9 points per game.
 
Samford sits in sixth place in the conference with a 7-8 record in SoCon play and 16-12 record overall. The Bulldogs recently earned an 80-61 win over VMI on Feb. 18 and will host Chattanooga Wednesday before welcoming The Citadel on Saturday.
 
Tip for Wednesday's game against the Catamounts is set for 7 p.m. and The Citadel's contest at Samford on Saturday is also scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com. For tickets, visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.
 
FAST FACTS
• Last season the Bulldogs had just five games with multiple players scoring at least 20 points. This year, The Citadel has posted nine games with multiple 20-point scorers and four games with a 30-point scorer.
• Led by Preston Parks' 17.0 points per game and Zane Najdawi's 14.9 PPG, The Citadel is one of two SoCon teams with multiple scorers ranked in the top-10 in the conference.
• The Bulldogs own five of the 11 highest-scoring performances in the SoCon this season.
• Last season the Bulldogs' bench scored 1,196 points using Coach Baucom's line change system. This year, the 'Dogs are well on their way to surpassing that mark as they have already tallied 1,170 bench points. The largest contribution so far this season came in a 116-112 win at Stetson when the Bulldogs' reserves poured in 72 points.
• Preston Parks ranks first in the SoCon with his average of 21.1 points per game in conference play. Parks is the only freshman in the top-30 in scoring in conference games and overall this season, and would be the first freshman since Davidson's Stephen Curry in 2006-07 to lead the SoCon in scoring in conference play.
• The Citadel's high-powered offense ranks first in six different categories among Southern Conference members including scoring offense (91.1), steals (9.4), rebounding offense (37.8) offensive rebounds (14.3), turnover margin (+3.29) and three-point field goals made (12.3).
• Zane Najdawi is currently first in the SoCon in offensive rebounds, third in rebounds and eighth in scoring. He is also tied for 10th in the NCAA for most free throws made in a single game after sinking 16 against Colgate on Dec. 2. His 133 free throws made are 10th most in program history in a single season.
• Preston Parks currently ranks second on The Citadel's list of points scored by a freshman. Parks has 426 points on the season and is six points behind leader Cameron Wells. He also ranks third among freshmen with 101 assists.
• Parks has been explosive for the Bulldogs this season and has led The Citadel in scoring in 11 games. The Greenville, South Carolina, native has recorded 18 games in double figures and 12 games with at least 20 points.
• The freshman's 33 points on Feb. 11 and 32 points on Dec. 28 are the sixth-and seventh-highest single-game totals among conference members in 2016-17. He also ranks sixth in the SoCon in scoring and first in scoring in conference play.
 
For more information on The Citadel basketball, follow @CitadelHoops or visit CitadelSports.com.