CHARLESTON, S.C. – With 3:34 remaining in regulation, senior Matt Frierson calmly converted three free throws that gave The Citadel men's basketball team a three-point, 65-62 lead. However, the trio of free throws were the last points the Bulldogs would score as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs scored six unanswered points to claim a 68-65 win in Southern Conference action Thursday night inside McAlister Field House.

Game Information
Location: Charleston, S.C. (McAlister Field House)
Final Score: Chattanooga 68, The Citadel 65
Records: UTC (12-16, 7-8 SoCon), The Citadel (11-15, 3-12 SoCon)
Series: UTC leads, 65-18

KEY PLAYS AND STATS

• Chattanooga jumped out to a quick three-point lead when David Jean-Baptiste hit his first 3-pointer of the game, and with 14:09 left in the opening period, the UTC lead was eight, 13-5, when Keigan Kerby converted his first trey of the game.
• Kaiden Rice and Lew Stallworth worked to cut the lead to just four, 15-11 with just under 13:00 to play, but another spurt over a two-minute span from the Mocs extended the lead back out to nine, 24-15.
• After four points from Stallworth cut the Moc lead to five, UTC went on a 9-0 run to open up a 14-point, 33-19 lead with 6:32 left in the first half.
• The Bulldogs managed to cut into the deficit, trailing by just 10, 37-27, at the intermission after Stallworth scored four straight points, including a pair of free throws.
• The Bulldogs opened the second half by forcing three quick UTC turnovers, complimented by five points from Hayden Brown and Stallworth to cut into the lead.
• With 12:30 left in regulation, Frierson hit one of his game-high four 3-pointers to pull the 'Dogs to within two, 46-44, and a few minutes later, another Frierson three-ball made it a one-point, 47-46 Bulldog lead.
• UTC managed to take back the lead a few minutes later, stretching things out to five, 52-47, but a Frierson free throw with 7:23 left to play tied the game back up at 52-all.
• With 6:26 left in the second period, Brown gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the night with the front end of two free throws, and with 3:54 left, Frierson hit his three free throws to make it another three-point, 65-62 Bulldog advantage.
• The Mocs went on to score six unanswered points in the closing minutes to claim the win.
• The Bulldogs shot 34.4 percent (21-of-61) from the field, but connected on just 26.7 percent (8-of-30) of their 3-point attempts.
• The Mocs shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) for the game, including 29.0 percent (9-of-31) from beyond the arc.
• The Bulldogs benefited from 15 free throws, shooting 88.2 percent (15-of-17) from the charity stripe, while the Mocs hit just five of their eight free throw attempts (.625).
• Stallworth led all players with 25 points, his sixth 25-plus point game of the season. Stallworth added five rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes of work and went 7-of-7 at the free throw line.
• After being held scoreless in the first half, Frierson bounced back to score 17 points, including a game-high four 3-pointers. He also went a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line, extending his streak to 40 straight free throws without a miss this season.
• Zane Najdawi corralled in a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with six point and three blocks.

NOTABLES

• With his 25 points scored Thursday night, Stallworth now has 989 career points. This season, he has scored at least 25 points six times.
• Stallworth's four assists Thursday night moved him up two spots in The Citadel record book. The graduate transfer point guard has 156 assists on the year, a mark that has him third in program history. He is nine behind P.J. Boutte's 2015-16 season in second.
• Stallworth's 522 points this season ranks 11^th in program history, while his current scoring average of 20.1 points per outing ranks ninth.
• Najdawi corralled in 11 rebounds Thursday night, making him just the third Bulldog in program history to eclipse the 700-rebound mark for his career. Najdawi is one of just six Southern Conference players ever to score 1,500 points, bring down 700 rebounds and block at least 150 shots.
• With his two field goals made, Najdawi is now eighth in program history with 537 career made field goals.
• Najdawi swatted away three shots against Chattanooga, marking the 55^th game in his illustrious career that the Midlothian, Virginia native recorded multiple blocks in a game. Najdawi has recorded multiple blocks in each of the last four games for the Bulldogs, and has rejected at least three field goals in nine games this season. He boasts 186 for his career, the second most in program history.
• Frierson converted four 3-pointers Thursday night, giving him 91 on the season. His 91 made treys is fourth in program history for a single season.

COMING UP
The Bulldogs have two home games left in the regular season, including Saturday's Senior Day celebration prior to a 1 p.m. tipoff with Samford. The Bulldogs will recognize Tyler Burgess, Stallworth, Frierson and Najdawi. The Bulldogs will then host UNC Greensboro on Thursday, Feb. 28.

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