SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Nearly two minutes into the second half, sophomore Frankie Johnson drained a three-pointer to pull The Citadel men's basketball team to within two points of Wofford College after the Bulldogs had trailed by eight, 45-37 after one half of play. It appeared the Bulldogs had recaptured the momentum and would be able to keep things close to give themselves a chance at knocking off Wofford in a Southern Conference (SoCon) road game.

Unfortunately for the young Bulldogs (5-10, 0-3 SoCon), the more experience Wofford Terriers (10-5, 2-1 SoCon) were able to bounce back to stretch things out to as many 22, 109-87 with 25 seconds left before final horn blew, marking a 109-92 defeat inside Richardson Indoor Stadium Saturday night.

"I thought we did a decent job (neutralizing) Fletcher Magee, but Cam Jackson and Nathan Hoover stepped up for (Wofford)," said head coach Duggar Baucom. "They and some others made critical shots at critical times. We would make a run, but they'd make a shot. We can't allow Jackson to have six offensive rebounds. They'd get a defensive stop and he'd come up with an offensive rebound and he had a majority of their second chance points. They're just a good team and have a good system in place for their shooters."

After the Terriers scored the first four points of the game off of free throws, the Bulldogs came charging back to tie the game off a pair of layups by Kaelon Harris. Nearly three minutes into the game, Derek Webster, Jr. gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game with his first three-pointer of the season from the left side of the arc.

The Citadel led for nearly 12 minutes in the first half, stretching the lead out to as many as eight, 27-19 when Quayson Williams hit one of his three three-pointers with 7:46 to go in the period.

Part of the Bulldogs' success came from forcing the Terriers into 11 first-half turnovers, which The Citadel turned into 15 points. Despite the stingy defense by the 'Dogs, Wofford was able to bounce back to retake the lead for good with 2:40 to play in the opening half when Hoover hit a three-pointer. The Terriers closed out the half on a 9-2 run to establish an eight-point, 45-37 lead at halftime.

Out of the intermission, the Bulldogs came out fired up and quickly cut back into the Terrier's lead with back-to-back three-pointers by junior Zane Najdawi and a layup from Williams all capped by Johnson's three-pointer nearly three minutes into the half.

But the Terriers used several long scoring runs to stretch things back out to a double-digit lead to cruise to their second SoCon win of the season.

The Citadel bounced back from shooting 36.1% (13-of-36) in the first half to shoot 40.0% (30-of-75) from the field for the game after shooting 43.6% (17-of-39) in the second period. In comparison, Wofford shot 53.2% (33-of-62) from the field in the game, including a blistering 60.0% (20-of-33) in the second half alone. The two teams combined for 27 three-pointers with six different players converting multiple treys.

Williams, who led the Bulldogs with 15 points on Thursday, Jan. 4 at Furman, once again led the way with 18 points, including three three-pointers. He also added a 3-of-4 performance at the charity stripe, corralled in five rebounds and finished his 21 minutes of work with five steals. The five steals matched his career high, which was coincidentally set against Wofford last season on Feb. 2, 2017.

Behind Williams, Matt Frierson scored 16 points, including converting four treys, while Harris chipped in 15 points. Najdawi finished the game with 13 points while Leandro Allende led the team with seven rebounds, including four off the offensive glass.

With Magee's offensive output minimized by the Bulldogs' game plan, Hoover stepped up to lead the Terriers with 21 points off 6-of-12 shooting and five three-pointers. Jackson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards while Trevor Stumpe and Storme Murphy rounded out Wofford's double-digit scoring with 19 and 17 points respectively.

FAST BREAK FACTS

• Fletcher Magee entered Saturday's game averaging 24.1 points and 4.9 three-pointers per game in 14 previous games. He was fifth in the nation for scoring and was leading NCAA Division I for three-pointers made per game, but the Bulldogs neutralized him for much of the game. Magee scored just 11 points, including six free throws, and did not convert a three-pointer until there was just 4:41 left in the game. It was the only trey for Magee.
• The Bulldogs utilized their eight different starting lineup of the season Saturday against Wofford. The Citadel is one of 11 schools in the nation to use eight or more different starting lineups this season.
• The Bulldogs' 17 steals Saturday night is tied for the second-most steals by a Citadel basketball team in a SoCon regular-season game since 1989. The record is 19 set last season against Wofford on Jan. 2, 2017. The Bulldogs matched the 2001-02 team that had 17 steals against VMI on Feb. 18, 2002.
• Junior Quayson Williams posted back-to-back double-digit scoring performances for the first time this season as he followed up Thursday's 15-point outing with 18 points Saturday.
• Williams matched his career high for steals in a single game with five Saturday night against Wofford. Coincidentally enough, the last time he had five steals was last season against Wofford on Feb. 2, 2017.
• With Derek Webster, Jr.'s three-pointer early in the first half, every Bulldog has now converted at least one three-pointer this season.

 
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will return home this week for a pair of SoCon games against Samford and Chattanooga on Thursday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 13. Tipoff of Thursday's game against the Bulldogs from Birmingham, Alabama, will be at 6 p.m. while Saturday's tilt against the Mocs will be at 1 p.m.

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