CHARLESTON, S.C. – After a sluggish first half that saw The Citadel men's basketball team shoot just 28.1 percent from the field, the Bulldogs came back out in the second half and dominated Mercer, shooting 58.6 percent in the final 20 minutes, while out-scoring the Bears 54-36 to claim the 79-69 Southern Conference win.

The win was the first over Mercer for the Bulldogs in Charleston since March 5, 1927. The 1926-27 Bulldogs defeated the Bears 42-41 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.

Game Information
Location: Charleston, S.C. (McAlister Field House)
Final Score: The Citadel 79, Mercer 69
Records: The Citadel (6-2, 1-0 SoCon), Mercer (4-4, 0-1 SoCon)
Series: Mercer leads, 16-6

KEY STATS

• Mercer jumped out to a quick 3-point lead when Ross Cummings hit his first 3-pointer of the game. Cummings ended the game with a game-high 22 points off 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including knocking down six 3-pointers.
• From there, the Bulldogs and Bears battled close with the largest lead of the first half coming with 1:02 to play as Cummings hit another 3-pointer, putting Mercer up by nine, 31-22.
• The Bears took an eight-point, 33-25 lead into the locker room at halftime after shooting 40 percent (14-of-35) overall for the first 20 minutes.
• The Citadel connected on just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) of their attempts from the field in the first half, including five of their 18 3-point attempts (27.8 percent).
• Out of the intermission, The Citadel opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take a two-point, 35-33 lead, capped by a couple of Zane Najdawi free throws. Najdawi scored five of the Bulldogs' first 10 points of the half with Matt Frierson opening the period with a trey.
• With 13:42 left in regulation, Mercer's Ethan Stair brought down an offensive rebound, but was trapped in the corner by the Bulldogs' defensive pressure, forcing Stair to burn the Bears' final timeout. Mercer played the final 13:42 of the game without any timeouts.
• With 12:18 remaining, Quayson Williams hit a layup that tied the game at 44-all, and from there, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a thunderous Alex Reed dunk.
• Najdawi pushed the Bulldog lead to 10, 56-46 with a layup with 8:20 to go, and the Bulldogs claimed their largest lead of the game, a 15-point advantage (74-59) when Frierson hit a 3-pointer with 1:53 to go in the game.
• The Bulldogs ended the game shooting 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the field, including a blistering 58.6 percent (17-of-29) from the field in the second half alone.
• Mercer shot 36.2 percent (25-of-69) from the field for the game as the 'Dogs held the Bears to a 32.4 percent shooting performance in the second stanza.
• The Citadel benefited from four of the starting five scoring in double figures, a feat that has been accomplished in back-to-back games.
• Najdawi led the Bulldogs with 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and three blocks in 34 minutes of work.
• Lew Stallworth was second on the team with 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with five assists.
• Frierson and Connor Kern rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Bulldogs with 14 points and 13 points, respectively.
• The Bulldogs' starting five combined for 10 of the Bulldogs' 12 3-pointers.

NOTABLES

• The Bulldogs improve to 6-2 on the year, marking the best start through eight games since the 2004-05 team starting the year 6-2 under Pat Dennis with wins over Army, Washington & Lee, Chowan, Voorhees, Atlanta Christian (now Point University) and Savannah State.
• The win was the first over Mercer for the Bulldogs in Charleston since March 5, 1927. The 1926-27 Bulldogs defeated the Bears 42-41 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The last regular-season win in Charleston for The Citadel over Mercer came back on Feb. 12, 1927, a 38-33 win.
• With the win over Mercer, the Bulldogs have won the Southern Conference opener for the first time since the 2010-11 season. The Citadel defeated Georgia Southern at home, 65-52, on Dec. 2.
• The current four-game winning streak is the longest since the 2010-11 team won four games in a row over Samford, Appalachian State, Western Carolina and Davidson from Jan. 17-26.
• Najdawi's 18 points Saturday afternoon give him 1,301 for his career. He is just 20 points from matching Zach Urbanus (2007-11) and Patrick Elmore (1983-84, 88-90) for 10^th in program history.
• Najdawi swatted away three shots against the Bears, marking the fourth time this season and 44^th time in his career that he has recorded multiple blocks in a game. He has had three blocks in back-to-back games after swatting away three shots against High Point on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
• With his four 3-pointers Saturday against Mercer, Frierson has now converted at least one 3-pointer in 46 consecutive games. The four-trey performance was the 31^st such outing for Frierson.
• Frierson now has 261 career 3-pointers, 34 shy of the program record set by Urbanus.
• Stallworth recorded the third double-double of the season, and fourth of his career on Saturday. He did it in a little different fashion than normal as he finished the game with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with 16 points.
• With his 16 points scored, Stallworth eclipsed the 600-point mark for his career. He now has 605 career collegiate points scored, including 138 this season.

QUOTABLES FROM COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM
"I told the guys before the game that if we just go out and focus for 40 minutes and give us a good 40 minutes, you'll get to lead the league for a month. Our first 20 (minutes) weren't very pretty, but in the last 20, they showed a lot of grit, toughness and, most importantly, togetherness. We made a few more shots and kept them from making a few more. We had different people making big shots, and that was the awesome thing part of it. I'm proud of the team. Being down eight at the half and coming out and scoring the first 10 points of the second half was huge. It was kind of a fight from there, but just credit our kids and their character."

COMING UP
The Bulldogs will play one final game before taking a 10-day break for exams. The Citadel hosts Johnson & Wales (Charlotte) on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. Fans that bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots Toy Drive will be admitted for just $5. The game, which is sponsored by TD Bank will be Hospitality and Food and Beverage Night and will feature a halftime performance by Southern Elite Dance Academy.

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