ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Trailing 39-32 at the halftime break, The Citadel got its biggest second-half performance in more than two years, outscoring Western Carolina 68-47 over the final 20 minutes en route to a 100-86 victory in the opening round of the 2021 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championships Presented by General Shale Brick inside the Harrah's Cherokee Center on Friday evening.
 
Game Information
Final Score: The Citadel 100, Western Carolina 86
Record: The Citadel (13-11), Western Carolina (11-16)
Location: Asheville, N.C. (Harrah's Cherokee Center)
Series: Western Carolina leads 44-38
 
How It Happened

• After falling behind 4-2, The Citadel used an early 6-0 run to power itself back into the lead, with Hayden Brown's putback at the 17:22 mark pushing the Bulldogs' advantage to 8-4.
• Western Carolina fought back immediately with an 8-1 run to retake the lead; Mason Faulkner keyed the run with a three-point play as the Bulldogs faced another early deficit.
• The Catamounts' lead grew to as many as eight points, 22-14, with 10:20 to play in the half, but a triple from Rudy Fitzgibbons III trimmed the lead back to five points entering the last 10 minutes of the half.
• The Citadel gradually chipped away at the deficit and climbed back within three on Kaiden Rice's putback with just over a minute remaining, but Xavier Cork scored four straight points in the final minute to give the Catamounts a 39-32 edge entering the locker room.
• Brown provided four points and Tyler Moffe added a triple coming out of the halftime break as The Citadel erased the deficit with a 7-0 run over the first two minutes. Western Carolina briefly halted the run with a pair of baskets, but the Bulldogs refused to back down and surged into the lead on the back of an 8-0 run capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Fletcher Abee.
• From there, The Citadel would never trail again over the final 16 minutes of action. Each time that the Catamounts trimmed the lead back to one possession, the Bulldogs found a way to respond, eventually pushing the advantage up to double digits.
• The Catamounts did close within eight points at the three-minute mark and again with just over two minutes to play, but Fitzgibbons III halted the first push with a three-pointer from the top of the key, and Moffe's layup restored the double-digit lead with 1:41 remaining to close out the victory for the Bulldogs.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Hayden Brown led all Bulldogs with 19 points and 13 rebounds despite playing just 27 minutes after fouling out. Brown collected his 13th double-double of the season, moving him into sole possession of second place on The Citadel's all-time single-season chart and putting him just one behind Mike Groselle's record of 14 set in 2011-12.
• Stephen Clark poured in a career-high 18 points and added six rebounds while also connecting on his first three-pointer since Dec. 5 against Toccoa Falls. Clark came alive in the second half for the Bulldogs, netting 13 of his 18 points over the final 20 minutes of action.
• Tyler Moffe also scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half despite playing much of the frame with foul trouble.
• Fletcher Abee, returning from a two-game absence due to injury, tallied 17 points, running his streak of double-digit outings to five consecutive. Abee has also knocked down multiple three-pointers, including a trio of them on Friday, in every game of that streak.
• Rudy Fitzgibbons III, forced into extended action due to Moffe's foul trouble, came up big with 13 points to match his season high previously set against Columbia International on Dec. 7. Fitzgibbons also knocked down a trio of three-pointers, something he had done just once this season (vs. ETSU on Feb. 10).
• The Citadel had six players reach double figures, its most in a single game hitting that mark since seven did so against Carver on Dec. 7, 2019.
• The Bulldogs broke the 100-point barrier for the fourth time this season and the first time since Jan. 16 at VMI. The 100 points are the most scored by any team in the SoCon Tournament since Samford also tallied 100 on March 8, 2019; those two games are the only two times since 2000 that any team has broken into triple digits at the conference tournament.
• The win was The Citadel's first in the SoCon Tournament since defeating VMI, 78-70, on March 2, 2018.
• The Citadel's 68 second-half points were its most in any second half since scoring 73 against Mid-Atlantic Christian on Nov. 12, 2018. The Citadel's 73.1 percent shooting (19-of-26) in the second half was its best in any half since shooting 75 percent (18-of-24) at Mercer in the second half on Feb. 1, 2020.
• With the victory, The Citadel assured itself of a winning season, the first time that the program has accomplished that feat since going 20-13 in 2008-09.
• Head Coach Duggar Baucom matched the program record for postseason coaching victories with three and now sits alongside Benny Blatt, Pat Dennis and The Citadel Hall of Famer Les Robinson on that list.
• Should The Citadel defeat UNCG on Saturday afternoon, the Bulldogs would have multiple postseason victories in the same season for the first time since 1958-59.

 
Up Next
With its win on Friday evening, The Citadel advances to Saturday's quarterfinals and will square off against top seed and regular season champion UNCG at Noon inside the Harrah's Cherokee Center. The Spartans earned victories in both regular season matchups, and the Bulldogs will be looking to claim their first win in the series since Jan. 5, 2015.