CHARLESTON, S.C. — Carter Kingsbury scored a career-high 22 points to lead The Citadel (4–13, 1–3 SoCon) to a 79–77 overtime win against Western Carolina (5–10, 1–3 SoCon) on Saturday at McAlister Field House, while
Braxton Williams added 21. It marked the second time this season two Bulldogs scored 20 or more points in the same game, also occurring Jan. 2 against Wofford.
Western Carolina carried a 40–33 lead into halftime before The Citadel opened the second half with a 12–4 run to close the gap. Williams scored five points during the stretch, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 45 with 17:42 remaining. He later connected on another 3-pointer at the 17:01 mark to give The Citadel its first lead of the half.
The teams exchanged leads over the final 10 minutes of regulation. Kingsbury gave The Citadel a 71–69 advantage with a 3-pointer at the 1:16 mark before Julien Soumaoro tied the game at 71 with a jumper 45 seconds later to force overtime.
In the extra period, Kingsbury opened the scoring with a jumper at 3:34 to give The Citadel a 73–71 advantage. Williams followed with two free throws at the 2:07 mark to extend the lead to four. Kingsbury added two more free throws with 53 seconds remaining, and
Sola Adebisi sealed the result with two free throws in the final five seconds. CJ Hyland connected on a 3-pointer as time expired to account for the final margin.
Kingsbury finished 7-of-12 from the field and added six rebounds, marking his fourth game this season with at least six boards. The Citadel outrebounded Western Carolina 44–36, tying for the second-most rebounds by the Bulldogs in a game this season against the Southern Conference's leading rebounding team.
Simeon German led the effort with a season-high 10 rebounds.
Marcus Kell scored 24 points and Cord Stansberry added 23 for Western Carolina.
Up next, The Citadel opens a two-game Southern Conference road trip on Thursday, Jan. 15, with a 7 p.m. matchup at UNCG. The Bulldogs will remain on the road Saturday, Jan. 17, traveling to VMI for a 7 p.m. contest.
KEY NOTES
- The Citadel finished 23-of-28 from the free-throw line, its most free throws made this season and most since making 24 at Presbyterian on Nov. 13, 2023.
- Adebisi recorded at least one block for the seventh consecutive game.
- Kingsbury's 22 points marked the second-highest individual scoring output by a Bulldog this season (Braxton Williams, 24 vs. College of Charleston).
- Williams made three 3-pointers, giving him six games this season with at least three made triples.
