LEXINGTON, Va. – The Citadel basketball team dropped Saturday's regular-season finale, 81-78, on the road at VMI after leading by as many as 16 in the second half.

Graduate transfer point guard Lew Stallworth set the program record for assists in a season as he finished the game with five, giving him 181 this season.

Game Information
Location: Lexington, Va. (Cameron Hall)
Final Score: VMI 81, The Citadel 78
Records: VMI (10-20, 4-14 SoCon), The Citadel (12-17, 4-14 SoCon)
Series: The Citadel leads, 58-54

KEY PLAYS AND STATS

• The Bulldogs opened the game with a 3-pointer from Connor Kern on the second possession of the game, but VMI was able to establish its first lead a few minutes later off a Garrett Gilkeson fast-break layup.
• A couple of possessions later, the Bulldogs started a 12-0 run, a stretch that included another two Kern 3-pointers. The run opened up a nine-point, 17-8 Citadel advantage.
• With 13:20 left in the half, Matt Frierson gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead with a 3-pointer from the corner.
• The Bulldogs held on to the double digit lead for much of the rest of the first half, but the Keydets cut the advantage to just six, 37-31 with 4:57 left in the period when Gilkeson hit a 3-pointer.
• With six seconds left in the opening half, Stallworth knocked down a 3-pointer, giving the Bulldogs a 12-point, 46-34 lead heading into the intermission.
• The 'Dogs opened the second half by stretching the lead out to 16, 55-39 through the first 3:30 of the second half, capped by a Frierson 3-pointer, but the Keydets slowly began to chip away at the lead, pulling to within single digits off a pair of made free throws by Myles Lewis.
• With 9:53 left to play, Zane Najdawi stretched the lead back out to nine, 61-52 with a fast-break layup, but the Keydets went on an 8-1 run to pull to within two, including a Bubba Parham 3-pointer.
• With 4:43 left in regulation, Greg Parham gave VMI a two-point, 68-66 lead, and with 2:06 left, the Keydets had established a three-point, 73-70 lead.
• From that point, VMI never trailed again, stretching the lead to four, 79-75 with 15 seconds left.
• After shooting 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field and 40.0 percent (8-of-20) in the first half, the Bulldogs shot 37.0 percent (10-of-27) in the second half and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from long range. The Citadel shot 46.7 percent for the game, including connecting on 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.
• The Keydets shot 46.7 percent (11-of-30) from the field in the first half, but bounced back with a 43.8 percent (14-of-32) performance in the second half to shoot 40.3 percent for the game. VMI connected on six of its 15 (.400) 3-point attempts in the first half and then made 10-of-23 (.435) in the second half.
• Najdawi led all scorers with 25 points, his 24^th career 20-point performance. The senior forward added seven rebounds and a block in 37 minutes of action.
• Stallworth ended the game with his ninth career double-double, eighth of the season, off 21 points and 10 boards. The Los Angeles, California native added five assists in 36 minutes of work and matched his career high of five 3-pointers in the game.
• Frierson and Kern were the final two Bulldogs in double figures, including Frierson's 13 points and Kern's 12.
• Gilkeson and Sarju Patel led VMI with 19 points.

NOTABLES

• Stallworth set the program record for assists in a season with his five-assist performance. Stallworth boasts 181 assists for the season.
• With his 21 points scored, Stallworth moved up a spot in The Citadel record book for scoring in a season. Stallworth has scored 586 points this year, the third-most points scored in program history.
• Stallworth's 221 made field goals this season are the fourth most in program history.
• Najdawi moved up into a tie for fifth in program history with 252 career offensive rebounds.
• Frierson's three made 3-pointers Saturday give the senior guard 102 for the year, moving him into a tie for second in program history for 3-pointers made in a season. He is tied with Travis Cantrell's 2001-02 campaign.

COMING UP
The Bulldogs will next travel to Asheville, North Carolina for the 2019 Ingles South Conference Basketball Championships presented by General Shale. First-round action will get underway on Friday, March 8.

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