CONWAY, AR. – The Citadel basketball made 16 3-pointers and held the University of Central Arkansas to just 26 points in the second half, but its last-second shot attempt didn't go down as the Bulldogs lost a tightly-contested affair, 73-71.
The Citadel was 11-of-20 (55%) from beyond the arc in the first half alone, tying a season-high for made threes in a game.
Paxton Davidson led the Bulldogs with 23 points after going 7-of-12 from beyond the arc, both career-highs.
Colby McAllister added 15 points while tying his career-high of five made threes, which he just set on December 3.
First Half:
- UCA led 13-6 at the first media timeout but The Citadel responded with an 8-1 run to tie the game at 14-14.
- After the teams traded some 3-pointers, UCA used a 7-0 spurt to go ahead 35-28 with 7:00 minutes left in the opening half.
- Back-to-back 3-pointers by McAllister cut the deficit to one, 38-37, before Davidson's third triple of the half gave them a 40-38 edge.
- The Bears closed the half with a 5-0 burst to hold a 47-42 advantage at the break.
Second Half:
- A Bulldogs turnover led to a Bear's alley-oop, giving UCA its largest lead of the game at that point, 58-45, but McAllister's fifth long ball of the contest cut the deficit back to single digits, 58-50.
- An 11-2 Bulldogs stretch, punctuated by a Sola Adebisi dunk, pulled The Citadel within three, 63-60.
- Consecutive 3-balls from Davidson, his sixth and seventh of the night, tied the game at 67-67 with 6:57 to go.
- The Bulldogs would go scoreless for a six-minute stretch, but the Bears had a four-minute scoreless drought of their own as The Citadel took a timeout with 23.7 seconds remaining, trailing 71-67.
- On the ensuing position, Keynan Davis found Abebisi for another dunk, making it a two-point game with 19.7 left on the clock.
- The Bears made their ensuing free throws but fouled Davidson on the next Bulldogs possession, as he made his pair as well.
- The Citadel forced a turnover on an inbound pass with two seconds remaining but were unable to get the last-second attempt to fall, losing 73-71.
Up Next:
The Citadel plays its last game of 2024 at Vanderbilt on Wednesday, December 18 at 8 p.m.
