CHARLESTON, S.C. – For the first time in program history, The Citadel men's basketball team has won eight games before Christmas as the Bulldogs downed Southeast Missouri 86-74 in front of a crowd of 922 fans Saturday afternoon. The 'Dogs were led by Columbia, South Carolina native Kaiden Rice's 19 points off the bench, and four of the Bulldogs' starting five eclipsed the double-digit point total for the fourth straight game.

Game Information
Location: Charleston, S.C. (McAlister Field House)
Final Score: The Citadel 86, Southeast Missouri 74
Records: The Citadel (8-2), SEMO (5-6)
Series: The Citadel leads, 1-0

KEY STATS

• Southeast Missouri jumped out to an early 8-2 lead through the first 3:30 of the game.
• Connor Kern pulled the Bulldogs to within three, 8-5 with a trio of free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt.
• With 14:00 to play in the first half, Matt Frierson knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game to put the 'Dogs up by one, 11-10. Frierson ended the game with five 3-pointers made.
• After the two sides swapped the lead back-and-forth a couple of times, The Citadel took the lead back for good when Kaelon Harris hit a layup followed by one of Rice's five treys.
• Quayson Williams made it an 11-point game at 30-19 with 6:05 to go in the opening half when he hit a layup, and the Bulldogs flirted with a double-digit lead down the stretch heading to halftime. However, the Redhawks ended the period on a 5-1 run to sit just six points back of the Bulldogs at 41-35.
• The Bulldogs shot 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from the field in the opening half, but connected on just 25.0 percent (5-of-20) of their 3-point attempts, while the Redhawks converted 38.9 percent (14-of-36) of their attempts from the field, including 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from long range.
• Kern, Zane Najdawi and Frierson started off the second half with a combined eight points as the Bulldogs worked to establish another quick pace. Kern netted his 3-pointer just 19 seconds into the period to spur the drive.
• The Redhawks were able to cut the deficit to just one, 51-50, with just under 14:00 to play when Gabe McGlothan converted a jumper in the paint.
• That's when Rice once again stepped up, scoring the Bulldogs' next seven points to stretch the lead back out to eight at 58-50.
• With 3:54 left in regulation, Frierson stretched The Citadel's lead out to 16, 79-63, with his final 3-pointer of the game.
• The Bulldogs closed out the game by shooting 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field in the second stanza and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from 3-point range. For the game, the 'Dogs converted 44.8 percent of their attempts from the field and went 11-of-36 (.306) from 3-point range.
• Both teams shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.

NOTABLES

• The Bulldogs improve to 8-2 on the year, marking the best start through 10 games since the 2004-05 team started the year 8-2 under Pat Dennis.
• The 8-2 start matches the 2004-05, 1981-82, 1979-80, 1978-79 and 1964-65 teams for best start through 10 games.
• The eight wins are the most wins before Christmas by a Bulldog team in program history. The 2016-17 and 1964-65 teams both won seven games before Christmas.
• The current six-game winning streak is the longest since the 2008-09 team under Ed Conroy rattled off 11 straight wins from Jan. 22 – Feb. 26, 2009.
• The 6-0 start at home is the best start for The Citadel since the 2004-05 team started off the season 8-0 at home. The 2001-02 team started the year off 10-0 at home, the 1988-89 team started off 6-0 at home, the 1984-85 team went a perfect 14-0 at home, the 1981-82 team started the year off 7-0 at home and the 1973-74 team started the home schedule 6-0.
• For the fourth straight game, four of the Bulldogs' starting five players finished the game with double-digit points. Najdawi had 13 points, Frierson scored 18, Kern netted 10 and Lew Stallworth scored 14.
• Rice led the Bulldogs with 19 points, marking the fourth time in the last five games he has scored in double figures. Rice has averaged 17.2 points per game in that stretch, leading the team over the last five games, and has converted 23 3-pointers.
• Rice has now scored 130 points this season, already four more than he scored all last year. He has also matched his 3-point makes from last season with 32 on the year.
• Najdawi recorded his 46^th career multi-block game with three blocks. He has blocked multiple shots in four straight games and six games total this season. He now has 162 career blocks.
• With his nine rebounds Saturday afternoon, Najdawi now has 578 career boards, a mark that moved him up another spot in The Citadel record book to 11^th all-time. He needs just six rebounds to crack the top-10 for career rebounds.
• Frierson converted five 3-point field goals Saturday afternoon, marking the 33^rd time in his career that the senior guard has converted at least four treys. He has made at least one 3-pointer in 48 consecutive games.
• With his 18 points against SEMO, Frierson now has 954 career points.

QUOTABLES FROM COACH DUGGAR BAUCOM
"We practice realty hard the last four days, and I have been very proud of (the team's) intensity in practice and their focus, but then you get an opponent out there and you need to carry that over. The last several games we've been up to start the game and it's a lot easier to play like that. I have to give credit to our guys because they got back the lead back. I wasn't very pleased with how we ended the first half, but we came back out in the second half and took care of business."

COMING UP
The Citadel will next head up to Buies Creek, North Carolina for a game against Campbell on Tuesday, Dec. 18. The Bulldogs and Camels will tangle at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The 'Dogs will then be off for 10 days before hosting Longwood on Saturday, Dec. 29.

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