Box Score (PDF) | Bracket 

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel men's basketball team sent the class of 2017 off with a win on Monday night, topping preseason SoCon favorite Chattanooga 85-76 in the regular season finale inside McAlister Field House. The win marked the first victory over the Mocs for seniors Tom Koopman, Warren Sledge and Brian White, as the Bulldogs snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series.
 
The Citadel (11-20, 4-14 SoCon) was held scoreless in the game until Preston Parks hit a three at the 15:55 mark. Then, after not scoring for the first four minutes the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to take a 9-4 lead heading into the first media timeout. Head coach Duggar Baucom and company continued to extend their lead, taking a nine-point advantage off a three-pointer by Zane Najdawi with 10:01 remaining.
 
Chattanooga (19-11, 10-8 SoCon) then went on a 7-0 run to make it a two-point game with 6:17 left in the half. The Mocs pulled within one a few seconds later after making a free throw but Tyler Burgess and Parks responded with back-to-back threes for the Bulldogs to push the gap back to four.
 
With one minute remaining before halftime, the Mocs cut the game to one after hitting a three-pointer. But Burgess answered with his third trey to hand The Citadel a 45-40 lead heading into the locker room. The Bulldogs shot 46.4 percent from the floor in the first half and held Chattanooga to just 38.4 percent. Parks led The Citadel with 12 points and Ezekiel Balogun chipped in 10 in the first 20 minutes.  
 
Chattanooga opened the second half with five straight points to tie the game but Frankie Johnson finally got the 'Dogs on the board in the second half with a layup, making it 47-45 with 17:39 left in regulation. The Mocs took their first lead of the game since scoring the opening basket at the 12:49 mark but Najdawi responded with an old-fashioned three-point play after getting fouled on a layup to give The Citadel a two-point advantage.
 
The Bulldogs then went on a 14-5 run, capped by a massive dunk by Balogun, to push their lead to 77-68 with 6:14 remaining. One minute later, Balogun hit two free throws to push the lead to 11.
 
After a 5-0 spurt, Chattanooga trimmed the gap to six but was then forced to foul and send the 75 percent Bulldogs to the line. The Citadel sank six free throws in the final 52 seconds of play to clinch the win and hand UTC its fourth straight loss.
 
Parks led the team with 22 points, notching his 14th 20-point game of the season as he finished seven-of-16 from the field and a perfect four-for-four from the charity stripe. He was followed closely by Balogun as the freshman finished six-of-nine from the floor and poured in 18 points. Balogun finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Najdawi scored 13 and Sledge added 12, including eight free throws, three of which came in the last five minutes of the contest. The Bulldogs shot 50.0 percent from the floor for the second consecutive game and got 46 points from their bench.
 
With 10 treys and 85 points in the contest, The Citadel broke the single-season record for most three-pointers made and total points scored. The 'Dogs have broken six single-season records this season.
 
The Bulldogs now move on to the Southern Conference Tournament where they will face the eight seed, Western Carolina, in the first round. The first round game is slated to begin at 5 p.m. in Asheville, North Carolina, on Friday. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com. For tickets, visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.
 


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