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The Citadel Athletics | The Military College of South Carolina
Stallworth_L_18-19MBB_WCU_LB_01
Louis Brems / The Citadel
94
Winner Western Carolina WCU 5-14, 2-4 SoCon
82
The Citadel CIT 9-7, 1-4 SoCon
Winner
Western Carolina WCU
5-14, 2-4 SoCon
94
Final
82
The Citadel CIT
9-7, 1-4 SoCon
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Carolina WCU 47 47 94
The Citadel CIT 35 47 82

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Stallworth Scores 32, ‘Dogs Force 29 Turnovers in 94-82 Loss to Western Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Graduate transfer Lew Stallworth scored a career-high 32 points and just missed out on a triple-double, and The Citadel men's basketball team forced Western Carolina to turn the ball over 29 times, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs fell, 94-82, in Southern Conference action inside McAlister Field House, Saturday afternoon.

Game Information
Location: Charleston, S.C. (McAlister Field House)
Final Score: Western Carolina 94, The Citadel 82
Records: WCU (5-14, 2-4 SoCon), The Citadel (9-7, 1-4 SoCon)
Series: WCU leads, 40-36

KEY STATS
  • Western Carolina never trailed as the Catamounts opened the game on a 6-2 run through the first four minutes, and claimed the first double-digit lead with 14:14 to play in the first half when Kameron Gibson made a layup to put the Cats up 14-4.
  • With 10:20 to play in the first half, the WCU lead was 19, 27-8, after a Marc Gosselin layup.
  • The Bulldogs ended the half by cutting into the lead, getting it down to as few as nine, 44-35, with 1:03 to play in the half and 12, 47-35, at the intermission.
  • The play that cut the deficit to nine was an important one as Zane Najdawi hit the Bulldogs' first 3-pointer of the game from the right side, just in front of the Catamount bench. Prior to that shot, The Citadel went 0-for-17 from long range.
  • In previous games, the beginning of the second half proved to be troublesome for the Bulldogs, but not on Saturday as the 'Dogs came out and quickly cut the lead to just two, 50-48, in the first 3:30. Connor Kern capped a 13-3 run with another crucial three, this one from the left side of the key, just in front of his own bench.
  • Unfortunately, that was as close as the 'Dogs would come as the Cats went on a 13-2 run over the next nearly five minutes.
  • Free throws kept the 'Dogs within range of breaking through as The Citadel went to the line seven times in the final 11 minutes.
  • The Citadel shot 35.4 percent (28-of-79) from the field for the game, but was held to just 14.0 percent (6-of-43) from 3-point range. In comparison, the Catamounts shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the field for the game, including 58.6 percent (17-of-29) in the first half and 41.4 percent (12-of-29) from beyond the 3-point arc.
  • The Citadel's six made 3-pointers were the fewest of the season.
  • The Bulldogs forced Western Carolina into 29 turnovers that the 'Dogs turned into 27 points.

NOTABLES
  • The Bulldogs' 15 steals are tied for fifth most in program history for team steals in a SoCon game.
  • The 29 Western Carolina turnovers are the most since the Bulldogs forced Point to turn the ball over 31 times last season on Dec. 16, 2017.
  • Stallworth's 32 points are a career high. It's the first time since Matt Frierson scored 30 against Johnson (Nov. 14, 2018) that a Bulldog has scored at least 30 points in a game. His 12 field goals made are also a career high.
  • With his eight assists, Stallworth now has 108 assists this season, and is just 10 outside the top-15 in program history for assists in a single season.
  • With his 20 points Saturday against Western Carolina, Najdawi moved up into a tie for fourth all-time for points scored with 1,431. He is tied with Rick Swing (1975-79).
  • Najdawi also moved up from sixth to fourth in program history for career free throws made as he converted seven of his 11 (.636) free throws Saturday. He now has 361 career made free throws.
  • With his five rebounds, Najdawi also moved up a spot from seventh to sixth in program history with 633 career boards.
  • Najdawi swatted away three shots Saturday, marking the 50th career game the Midlothian, Virginia native has had multiple blocks in a single contest.
  • Hayden Brown scored 16 points Saturday afternoon, marking the most points he has scored since registering 22 at Virginia Tech (Nov. 12, 2017) last season.

COMING UP
The Citadel will now hit the road for three games, beginning next Thursday, Jan. 17 at Samford. The 'Dogs will then head to Chattanooga (Jan. 19) and UNCG (Jan. 24) before returning home on Saturday, Jan. 26 for the annual Pack the Mac game against VMI.

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