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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel men's basketball team will tip off the 2017 Southern Conference Tournament on Friday when they take on eighth-seeded Western Carolina. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m. inside the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, North Carolina.
 
The ninth-seeded Bulldogs take a two-game winning streak into the tournament after picking up wins over Samford and Chattanooga last week. The win over UTC marked the first victory over the Mocs for seniors Tom Koopman, Warren Sledge and Brian White, as the Bulldogs snapped an eight-game skid in the series. Preston Parks led the 'Dogs with 22 points and notched his 14th 20-point game in the process. Ezekiel Balogun followed closely with 18 points and came up one rebound short of a double-double in the win. The Citadel held the Mocs to 40.9 percent shooting from the floor in a game that featured four ties and five lead changes.
 
Parks and Kaelon Harris also earned all-SoCon awards Wednesday as both were named to the media All-Freshmen Team. Parks was also named SoCon Freshman of the Year by the coaches and media and was selected to the all-conference third team by media members. The Greenville, South Carolina, native is just the second Bulldog to earn the award and the first since 2008 when Cameron Wells garnered the honor.
 
Western Carolina heads to Asheville having won two of its last three games. The Catamounts are 9-22 overall this year and finished conference play 4-14. Friday's game will mark the fifth meeting between the two schools in the tournament and third meeting this season, with WCU taking the previous two regular season contests.
 
The game will be available on ESPN3 with live stats available at CitadelSports.com. For tickets, visit CitadelSports.com/tickets.
 
FAST FACTS
• This is the 66th appearance for The Citadel in the Southern Conference tournament. The Bulldogs are 13-65 all-time in the tourney and seeking their first ever conference tournament title.
• Coach Baucom owns a 10-10 record in conference tournaments as a Division I head coach. He led VMI to three conference tournament championship games.
• When Baucom-led teams enter the conference tournament with a sub .500 conference record, they are  4-6.
• A win over Western Carolina would be The Citadel's second Southern Conference tournament win since 2010 and fifth since 2002. Plus, it would advance the Bulldogs past the first round for the second time in four seasons. The Citadel has reached the finals just once (1959 - lost to West Virginia). The Citadel remains one of five original Division I schools still seeking its first NCAA Tournament berth.
• Friday's meeting is the fifth meeting between Western Carolina and The Citadel in the conference tournament, with the Catamounts holding a 3-1 advantage in the previous meetings.
• This year will be the first time since 2013-14 that The Citadel enters the tournament having won the final game of the regular season.
• The Bulldogs' six freshmen have racked up 54 double-digit scoring games this season.
• With 21 free throws on Feb. 22 The Citadel broke the single-season program record for free throws made, surpassing the previous mark of 529 set in 1984-85. The Bulldogs have broken six single-season records in the past three games including assists, steals, free throw attempts, three-pointers made and total points scored.
• Led by Preston Parks' 18.0 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.
• With the win over Chattanooga on Feb. 27, The Citadel has surpassed its win total from last season.
• Preston Parks ranks first in the SoCon with his average of 22.1 points per game in conference play. Parks is the only freshman in the top-30 in scoring in conference games and overall this season. He is also the first freshman to lead the SoCon in scoring in conference play since Davidson's Stephen Curry in 2006-07.
• On Feb. 22, Parks broke The Citadel's eight-year-old freshman scoring record and now has 504 points in his freshman campaign.
• Preston Parks was named SoCon Freshman of the Year by the coaches and media members on March 1. He is the first Bulldog to win the award since 2008 when Cameron Wells garnered the honor. He was also named to the all-conference third team by media members. Kaelon Harris was also selected to the media all-freshman team after averaging 9.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
• Parks is the second freshman to earn the award under Coach Baucom's guidance after VMI's D.J. Covington earned the honor in 2010-11 in the Big South.
 
For more information on The Citadel basketball, follow @CitadelHoops or visit CitadelSports.com.