CHARLESTON, S.C. – Hayden Brown and Tyler Moffe each finished with double-doubles as The Citadel got revenge for its loss at Western Carolina earlier this week, knocking off the Catamounts, 74-63, inside McAlister Field House on Saturday afternoon.
 
Game Information
Final Score: The Citadel 74, Western Carolina 63
Record: The Citadel (10-7, 3-7 SoCon), Western Carolina (8-11, 1-9 SoCon)
Location: Charleston, S.C. (McAlister Field House)
Series: Western Carolina leads 44-37
 
How It Happened

• Tyler Moffe came out strongly for The Citadel, scoring seven of the game's first 13 points himself. Moffe's triple at the 16:25 mark established an early 10-3 lead for the Bulldogs and provided cushion against the ensuing Western Carolina run that brought the Catamounts back within two points less than one minute later.
• The Citadel managed to push its lead back to as many as six points, but for much of the remainder of the first half the lead remained at four points or fewer. The Bulldogs did gain a bit of separation with under four minutes remaining, however, as five more points from Moffe pushed the lead back to seven points, 31-24.
• Mason Faulkner cut the Western Carolina deficit to just three points with 51 seconds on the clock, but Derek Webster, Jr., notched a timely putback on The Citadel's final possession of the half to send the Bulldogs into the locker room with a 35-30 edge, the same halftime score as Monday's contest in Cullowhee.
• Early in the second half, The Citadel broke open the game with a 10-0 run that spanned nearly three minutes. Kaiden Rice broke free on a pair of fast breaks and knocked down three-pointers on both, with the second building a 53-38 edge for the Bulldogs with 13:51 remaining on the clock.
• The Catamounts would not go away, however, using a 9-0 run of their own to claw back into the contest. Cory Hightower kickstarted the run with a three-point play, and Western Carolina worked the inside game on three straight possessions to whittle The Citadel's lead down to just six points with 11:53 remaining.
• Western Carolina twice cut its deficit to four points over the final six minutes of action but were unable to close any closer than that. Hayden Brown answered on the first occasion with a hard-fought layup inside, and Webster, Jr., worked his way into the paint for a layup to respond the second time.
• Leading 64-59 with 3:40 remaining, The Citadel put the game out of reach with eight unanswered points down the stretch and did not allow the Catamounts back within single digits to seal the 74-63 victory.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Hayden Brown notched his ninth double-double of the season with 21 points and 15 rebounds, his fourth game this season with at least 15 boards. Brown's nine double-doubles are tied for fourth in a single season in program history alongside former teammate Kaelon Harris (2019-20).
• Tyler Moffe notched his second double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 assists while also turning the ball over just twice in 25 minutes of play. Moffe is also the first Bulldog to have multiple games with 10 or more assists in a season since Lew Stallworth in 2018-19.
• Kaiden Rice found his shooting stroke against the Catamounts, knocking down five of his 10 chances from three-point range to finish with 19 points. Rice's five triples are his most in a game since hitting seven at VMI on Jan. 16.
• Derek Webster, Jr., enjoyed his strongest performance of the campaign, scoring a season-best 12 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the floor and also collected five rebounds and two assists.
• The Citadel limited Western Carolina to 4-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc (18.2 percent), the third time in the last five outings that the Bulldogs' opponent has shot below 20 percent from three-point range.
• The Bulldogs kept up the momentum from a strong free throw shooting performance against UNCG, knocking down 12 of their 15 chances (80 percent) from the charity stripe on Saturday. Over its last two games, The Citadel is now 31-of-40 (77.5 percent) from the line, far exceeding its 69.1 percent season average.
• With three more blocks on Saturday, The Citadel stretched its streak to six consecutive games with at least three blocks. As a team, the Bulldogs average 4.7 blocks per game and lead the Southern Conference in that category.
• The Citadel won the rebounding battle for the second straight game, outrebounding the Catamounts by a slim 37-35 margin. The Bulldogs held Western Carolina to just three second-chance points on Saturday.

 
Up Next
With Saturday's game in the books, The Citadel will finish off its three-game homestand inside McAlister Field House on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as the Bulldogs welcome ETSU to Charleston. In the first meeting this season on Jan. 30, the Bucs were 64.8 percent (24-of-37) from the field in the second half while scoring 62 points en route to a 112-84 win over The Citadel in Johnson City.