CHARLESTON, S.C. (February 5, 2022) – A record-setting day for Jason Roche and a career highlight showing from Hayden Brown headlined The Citadel's best shooting performance of the season Saturday in a 107-93 win over Samford.
 
Game Information
Score: The Citadel 107, Samford 93
Records: The Citadel (10-12, 4-7), Samford (16-8, 8-3)
Location: McAlister Field House (Charleston, S.C.)
Series: Series tied 13-13
 
How it Happened

• Early fanfare was stirred up when Jason Roche's opening three at 17:28 set the school record for most 3-pointers made in one season by a freshman, breaking the previous mark of 80 set by Fletcher Abee (2019-20).
• The Citadel were hot as a pistol to start the game, bolstered by 12 first-half threes, including five from Roche and three each from Hayden Brown and Tyler Moffe.
• Samford matched wits by countering with a 64.7 first-half field goal percentage (22-34).
• The Citadel led by as much as ten at 42-32 before Samford drew to within one at the half 54-53.
• Both sides continued their hot-shooting prowess with a back-and-forth second half that had Samford initially ahead 71-67 with 13:04 remaining.
• That all changed when The Citadel marched on a 14-3 run, backed by nine points from Hayden Brown, to lead 81-74.
• Samford threatened by getting to within four a 85-81 until several The Citadel players stepped up to ignite an 8-0 run and pave the way towards a sizable win. This included Rudy Fitzgibbons III, who made a three and later an offensive rebound that led to another Roche 3-pointer.
• Samford' foul troubles led to the dismissal of forward Jermaine Marshall, who was leading the team in rebounds at the time of his fifth foul, and The Citadel entering the double bonus at 4:07 to tack on some points towards the end.

Inside the Box Score

• Hayden Brown showed no signs of stoppage after sitting out Wednesday's game at Furman, dropping 35 points and 11 rebounds for his 22^nd career double-double, fourth 30-point game, and two points shy of the highest single-game scoring performance of his career when he dropped 37 against Chattanooga (1/21/21). He shot 13-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-6 from long range.
• Roche had 29 points, with his career-best nine threes coming in as second-most in school history behind the record of ten that's held by three players. He finished this week making 16-of-25 threes, including his 7-of-10 showing at Furman on Wednesday. It was the first time he made at least seven threes in back-to-back games.
• Both The Citadel and Samford finished exactly the same on field goals at 59.4 percent and shooting 38-of-64. The Citadel also matched its field goal totals between halves, making 19-of-32 in both the first and second sessions towards a season high in field goal percentage.
• The outlier, of course, was from beyond the arc, where The Citadel finished 17-of-33 to Samford's 10-of-24. The Citadel also led in free throws two-fold, shooting 14-of-20 to Samford' 7-of-13.
• Tyler Moffe nearly had a double-double of his own, tallying 15 points with nine assists and making 3-of-6 threes. Stephen Clark also stepped up to deliver 11 points with five boards and five assists.
• Samford point guard Ques Glover lived up to his dual-threat billing, making 30 points with five assists.

Rising Through the Ranks!

• Freshman Jason Roche now ranks sixth all-time on the 3-point season scoring list with 89, needing just three more to reach Kaiden Rice's fifth-best total from last season. The all-time record is 114 set by Matt Frierson in 2017-18. Roche now leads the SoCon with 89 made 3-pointers (tied with VMI's Kamdyn Curfman) and 4.0 made three per game.
• Hayden Brown moved into a tie for 16^th all-time in career scoring with Kevin Hammack with 1,237 points, while slotting up to seventh with 633 career rebounds.
• Stephen Clark had one block to up his career total to 117 for fourth all-time and his season mark to 55 for sixth all-time.

Up Next
The Bulldogs head out on the road for two pivotal SoCon matchups, beginning at UNCG this Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a nationally-televised matchup at VMI Saturday at 3:30 p.m.