CHARLESTON, S.C. – Senior guard Quayson Williams only scored two points Saturday afternoon, but they were the most important two points of the game as his buzzer-beater, fast-break layup gave The Citadel men's basketball team a much-needed win, 84-82, over longtime rival VMI in front of 3,864 screaming fans inside McAlister Field House.

With :04 left on the game clock and the score knotted at 82-all, VMI's Garrett Gilkeson missed a tip-in layup and senior Zane Najdawi came up with the defensive rebound. Najdawi found Williams waiting outside the 3-point arc with the entire length of the floor between him and the basket.

Williams turned and raced down the right side of the court, weaving through three Keydet defenders, and kissed the ball off the glass as time expired. McAlister Field House erupted as the entire South Carolina Corps of Cadets and the fans in attendance celebrated a win that broke an eight-game losing skid that dated back to the end of December.

Game Information
Location: Charleston, S.C. (McAlister Field House)
Final Score: The Citadel 84, VMI 82
Records: The Citadel (10-10, 2-7 SoCon), VMI (7-14, 1-8 SoCon)
Series: The Citadel leads, 58-53

KEY PLAYS AND STATS

• VMI's Bubba Parham started the scoring nearly 25 seconds into the game with a pair of free throws to put the Keydets ahead early.
• Nearly two minutes later, Najdawi hit a layup to tie the game at two-all and he followed that up on the next possession with another layup.
• After Myles Lewis converted another two free throws for the Keydets to tie the game back up, Hayden Brown gave the Bulldogs the lead back with a layup at the 16:03 mark. The Bulldogs held on to the lead until mid-way through the second half.
• The Keydets missed their first three shots from the field in the game.
• With 6:13 to go in the first half, Kaiden Rice hit a 3-pointer to make the Bulldogs' lead 10, 34-24. A few minutes later, Connor Kern hit two of three free throws to keep the lead double digits.
• In the final 3:47, VMI out-scored The Citadel 8-5 to trail by eight, 44-36, at the halftime buzzer.
• The first nearly three minutes of the second half passed scoreless as neither team was able to find much in the way of offense, but it was VMI that broke through for the first score of the second period with a jumper from Sarju Patel.
• With 9:29 left in regulation, the SoCon's leading scorer, Parham, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 62-all, and nearly a minute and a half later, Tyler Creammer gave VMI its first lead since early in the first half with a layup.
• With 5:28 to play, Kern hit a 3-pointer off a feed from Lew Stallworth to pull the 'Dogs to within one, 70-69. For the next nearly five minutes, the Bulldogs pulled to within one point of the Keydets four times, but VMI was able to stretch the lead back out almost every time.
• With 1:02 to play, Creammer went to the free throw line for a pair of free throws, and McAlister Field House erupted. Creammer missed the first as the fans cheered, screamed, stomped and clapped, getting the best of the big man, but Creammer answered on the next free throw, making it and giving VMI a two-point, 82-80 lead.
• With 36 seconds remaining in regulation, Stallworth stopped that trend as he drove the length of the floor and scored his final points of the afternoon with a layup.
• On the next VMI possession, the Keydets had two attempts at the go-ahead bucket as Patel put up a contested 3-pointer from the left side and Gilkeson put up an even more heavily contested layup off the rebound, but it was the Bulldogs, Najdawi and Williams that came up with the ball last.
• The Bulldogs shot 47.1 percent (32-of-68) from the field for the game, despite hitting on just 23.3 percent (7-of-30) of their 3-point attempts.
• The Keydets shot 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the field and connected on nine of their 28 3-point attempts (.321).
• Stallworth led all players with 29 points as he hit on 78.6 percent (11-of-14) of his shots from the field. The point guard, who added four assists and four rebounds, hit his first seven shots, including two 3-pointers.
• For the second game in a row, Najdawi ended his day with a double-double, including 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists.
• Parham led the Keydets with 24 points, including hitting 11 of his 12 (.917) of his free throw attempts.

NOTABLES

• The two-point win broke an eight-game losing skid for the Bulldogs. The Citadel has now won each of the last two games against VMI, including 78-70 in the firsts round of the 2018 Southern Conference Basketball Championships presented by General Shale.
• Stallworth has now scored at least 20 points in nine games this season and 12 times in his career.
• With his four assists Saturday against VMI, Stallworth now has 124 assists this season. He is now tied with Kevin Hammock's 2003-04 season for 10^th all-time in program history for assists in a single campaign. He is just seven assists away from Marshall Harris, III's 2013-14 season in ninth (131).
• For the second straight game, Najdawi finished with a double-double off 18 points and 10 rebounds. He is the first Bulldogs Stallworth earlier this season to post back-to-back double-double performances. Najdawi had 12 points and 10 boards on Thursday at UNCG.
• The double-double is the 15^th of Najdawi's career, a mark that has him sixth all-time in program history. His next double-double will tie him with Craig Burgess (1983-87) and Matt Newman (1994-98) for fourth all-time for career double-doubles. Najdawi's six double-doubles so far this season match his sophomore campaign (2016-17) and are tied for 10^th for most double-doubles in a single season. His next double-double with move him up into a tie for sixth with Regan Truesdale (1983-84), Kent Hill (1988-89) and J'Mel Everhart (2004-05, 2005-06).
• With his 10 rebounds against the Keydets, Najdawi moved up another spot in The Citadel record book, from sixth to fifth, in career rebounds with 664. He is just two behind Newman for fourth.
• For the fourth game in a row, Matt Frierson connected on at least three 3-pointers, adding to his career total. Frierson, who set the program record for career made treys in Thursday's game at UNCG, now boasts 303 triples, including 83 this season.
• Frierson's 83 3-pointers this year are tied for fourth all-time in program history for treys in a single season. He is tied with Zach Urbanus' 2009-10 season. Frierson holds the program record for 3-pointers in a season with 114 last year.
• With his nine points scored against the Keydets, Frierson jumped over former teammate Brian White (2013-17) for 29^th all-time in program history as he now boasts 1,067 career points. He is just one point behind Steve Fishel (1970-73) in 28^th.
• Brown swatted away two shots on Saturday, matching his career high.

QUOTABLES FROM COACH BAUCOM
"It was certainly exciting, but I'd just as soon win by 20," said head coach Duggar Baucom. "Quay is a guy who hasn't played as much as he probably has wanted to as a senior. We told (the team) get a stop, get a rebound, take it to the rim. He did exactly what we asked him to do. I thought we were way better in the first half, but I'm very thankful for this win."

COMING UP
The Bulldogs will continue the current three-game homestand next week with games against Furman and Wofford to start the second half of the SoCon schedule. The 'Dogs and Paladins will meet on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. with Wofford visiting McAlister Field House on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.

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