BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Citadel men's basketball team set a program record for 3-pointers made in a regular-season Southern Conference game with 18 Saturday night, but the Bulldogs fell 116-103 at the hands of a hot-shooting Samford team inside the Pete Hanna Center.

"(Samford) certainly hit some timely (shots) when we would be fighting back," said head coach Duggar Baucom. "We didn't play bad, offensively. We were pretty good, but we turned (the ball) over too many times and Justin Coleman hit two bombs. When you're in a 1-3-1 (defense), you don't expect people to shoot from out there and he made two of them. We were down nine both times and they'd work it back and we never could get under that point."

Samford (9-18, 5-9 SoCon) led for 36:15 and shot a blistering 67.8% (40-of-59) from the field, including converting 70.8% (17-of-24) of their shot attempts in the second half. In comparison, The Citadel Bulldogs (9-16, 4-9 SoCon) shot a solid 47.9% (34-of-71) from the field for the game.

The Bulldogs from Birmingham started the game with a 5-0 spurt and eventually worked things out to a 19-point, 53-34 lead with 4:03 left to play in the first half. Samford went on a 21-3 run in the middle portion of the first half to stretch a one-point lead out to the eventual 19.

Despite getting down early, the visiting Bulldogs showed plenty of fight down the stretch of the opening half and closed to within 11 points, 62-51 at halftime as Zane Najdawi hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left side.

Both teams shot over 50% in the first half with The Citadel Bulldogs connecting on 52.9% (18-of-34) of their shots from the field while the Samford Bulldogs hit on 65.7% (23-of-35) of their attempts.

Out of the intermission, Samford wasted little time in stretching the lead back out to 19, but the visiting Bulldogs continued to fight and claw back into the game to give themselves a shot at securing a road victory.

The Citadel managed to close to within eight points of Samford twice in the final eight minutes, including when Frankie Johnson hit two free throws with 7:13 to go and again with 4:51 left in regulation when Najdawi hit a jumper in the paint. However, every time the visiting Bulldogs from the Lowcountry seemed to be closing the gap, the homestanding Bulldogs of Birmingham would find an answer and would cancel out the gains.

Najdawi ended the game with a game-high 33 points, marking the second time in his career that the junior forward has scored 30 or more points. Najdawi converted four 3-pointers  and swatted away three shots.

Two other Citadel players finished the game with at least four 3-pointers, including a game-high six from Matt Frierson and four more from Quayson Williams. Frierson ended the game with 18 points while Williams, who led all players with five steals, scored 19 points off 6-of-11 (54.5%) shooting from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1%) from 3-point range.

Johnson rounded out the quartet of Bulldogs to score in double figures in the game as he netted 13 off 4-of-6 shooting (66.7%) from the field and three 3-pointers. Johnson also had a team-high seven assists.

Alex Thompson led Samford with 24 points off 10-of-11 shooting (90.9%) from the field while Demetrius Denzel-Dyson had 20 points, including four treys. Justin Coleman had a double-double off 16 points and 13 assists.

FAST BREAK FACTS

• The Citadel converted 18 3-pointers Saturday night against Samford, setting a program record for most treys by a Bulldog team in a regular-season Southern Conference game. The previous mark was 17 set by the 2007-08 team against Chattanooga on Feb. 16, 2008.
• The Bulldogs' 13 steals Saturday against Samford are tied for eighth most by a Bulldog team in a regular-season SoCon game. The record is 19 set last season against Wofford on Jan. 2, 2017.
• The Bulldogs' 22 assists are tied for 11^th-most by a Citadel basketball team in regular-season SoCon game. The Bulldogs had 24 twice earlier this season, including the first meeting with Samford on Jan. 11 and again two days later against Chattanooga. The program record for assists in a single SoCon game is 35 set against Furman back on Jan. 18, 1992.
• Zane Najdawi led all scorers Saturday night with 33 points, marking the 10^th time this season the Midlothian, Virginia native has led The Citadel in scoring, including eight of the last 10 games. It was also the 2^nd time in his career that he has scored at least 30 points in a game and the 17^th time in his career that he has scored at least 20 points.
• Najdawi had a game-high three blocks against Samford, marking the 38^th time in his career that he has had multiple blocks in a game. Najdawi now has 130 career blocks, the third-most in program history.
• Najdawi attempted a career-high 21 field goals Saturday against Samford.
• Najdawi's four made 3-pointers against the Bulldogs matches his career high set last week against Furman on Feb. 3, 2018. He also had a career-high eight 3-point attempts in the game.
• With his 33 points, Najdawi now has 1,084 career points, moving him up two spots to 27^th in program history for scoring.
• Matt Frierson hit a game-high six 3-pointers Saturday against Samford giving him 89 for the season and 195 for his career. His 89 3-pointers on the season has him currently third in program history for treys in a single season and his 195 career treys moved him up a spot into seventh all-time for career treys.
• Frierson has now had 20 games in his career with four or more 3-pointers, including 11 this season alone.
• Frankie Johnson has had at least six assists in six straight games. He now has 225 assists for his career. He needs just 14 assists to crack the top-15 in program history for assists in a career.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will return home for two of their final three home games next week, beginning with a tilt against UNCG on Thursday, Feb. 15. The Citadel will then host rival VMI on Saturday, Feb. 17 for the annual Pack the Mac contest.

2018 SOCON BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets are now on sale for the 2018 SoCon Basketabll Championships held at the U.S. Cellular Center located in Asheville, North Carolina March 1-5, 2018. Ticket prices start at $20 for general admission to a single session. For more information or to order your tickets, call The Citadel ticket office at (843) 953-DOGS (3647) or visit CitadelSports.com and click on the "Tickets" tab.

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