LEXINGTON, Va. – The Citadel men's basketball team put up a fight Saturday at VMI, but the Keydets converted twice as many three-pointers to claim an 88-81 win over the Bulldogs at Cameron Hall.

"Credit Dan Earl and his staff, they certainly had their guys more prepared than we had ours and a lot more hungry than we had ours," said head coach Duggar Baucom. "They just out-played us in every facet of the game and out-hustled us. They kept making plays and we didn't."

VMI (6-12, 1-6 SoCon) won the opening tip and never trailed, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in under 30 seconds. With 8:13 to go in the first half, the Bulldogs (6-13, 1-6 SoCon) found themselves in a 19-point, 37-18 hole.

Despite the large deficit, The Citadel was able to claw back into the game with a 7-0 run over the next 1:14, including five points from freshman Tariq Simmons.

With 2:55 to go in the first half, junior Zane Najdawi hit a layup to pull the Bulldogs to within eight, 44-36 of the Keydets. Najdawi and fellow juniors Matt Frierson and Quayson Williams combined to score the Bulldogs' last 12 points of the first half, setting the score at 49-41 in favor of VMI at the halftime break.

Out of the intermission, Rob Johnson and Leandro Allende gave the Bulldogs a boost with four quick points off a pair of Frankie Johnson steals, but the Keydets once again stretched the lead back out.

Every time the Bulldogs were able to cut into the deficit, the Keydets were right there with an answer.

With 1:06 to play in regulation, the Bulldogs found themselves down just four, 83-79 when Williams hit his third three-pointer of the game, but Austin Vereen scored five points in 47 seconds to put the game away for VMI.

The Bulldogs shot 41.5% (27-of-65) from the field for the game, but struggled from three-point range, connecting on just seven of their 29 attempts (24.1%). In comparison, VMI hit on 50.0% (31-of-62) of their shot attempts, including 45.2% (14-of-31) from three-point range. Both teams shot exactly 80.0% from the free throw line, 20-of-25 for The Citadel and 12-of-15 for VMI.

Najdawi led all scorers with 27 points off 11-of-17 (.647) shooting, which was made even more impressive by the fact that he drew double teams and most of the Keydets' focus for much of the contest. The Midlothian, Virginia native recorded his first double-double of the season as he also brought down a game-high 11 rebounds. In the last four games, Najdawi has averaged just over 27 points and seven rebounds per game.

Frierson also continued his strong current stretch with 16 points, including going 5-of-6 (.833) from the charity stripe. Williams and Simmons rounded out the Bulldogs' double-digit scoring with 13 and 11 points respectively. Williams converted two of the Bulldogs' three second-half three-pointers while Simmons went 7-of-8 (.875) at the free throw line.

VMI was led by Bubba Parham's 24 points off 8-of-12 (.667) shooting from the field, including a team-high four three-pointers. Vereen was the next highest scorer with 18 points. Garrett Gilkeson and Jordan Ratliffe rounded out the top scorers for the Keydets with 12 and 10 points.

FAST BREAK FACTS

• The loss at VMI Saturday marked the fifth loss in a row at Cameron Hall for the Bulldogs. The Citadel has not won in Lexington, Virginia since a 75-55 win on Feb. 18, 2002.
• Junior Zane Najdawi posted his first double-double of the season and the seventh of his career with 27 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes of work.
• Najdawi and fellow junior Matt Frierson have caught fire in recent weeks. Najdawi has averaged 27.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over the last four games. Frierson has averaged 20.5 points and 5.3 three-pointers per game over the same stretch. The two have complimented each other nicely as they have scored 56.5% of the Bulldogs' points in the last four games.
• With his 27 points Saturday, Najdawi now has 962 career points, an average of 11.6 points per game in his 83 career games.
• On Thursday at UNCG, Frierson scored his 600^th-career point. He now has 616 career points for an average of 7.4 points per game in his 83 career contests.
• Frierson has now converted at least one three-pointer in 25 straight games.
• Junior Quayson Williams hit three three-pointers Saturday, marking the fifth time this season he has converted multiple treys in a game.
• After scoring just nine points in the last five games, freshman Tariq Simmons rebounded with 11 against the Keydets. It is the 12^th time this season Simmons has scored in double figures.

 UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will have an entire week off before opening a tough stretch of four games in the span of eight days. The Citadel first travels to Macon, Georgia to play Mercer before going up against three of the top teams in the SoCon at home.

For more information on The Citadel basketball team, follow @CitadelHoops and @CitadelSports or visit CitadelSports.com.