CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Citadel basketball moves into second day action of the Southern Conference Tournament following a 55-43 victory over Samford on Friday evening. The Bulldogs face and top seeded South Division rival Appalachian State on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at Bojangles Coliseum. It marks the first time since 2006, under Pat Dennis, that the 'Dogs have won the opening game.

The Citadel (16-15) has won each of the last three games over the Mountaineers, all decided by four points or less. In 2009, Head Coach Ed Conroy guided the Bulldogs to back-to-back wins over Appalachian State for the first time since 1988-89. The streak continued on Jan. 6 of this season when The Citadel won 62-58 at ASU's Holmes Center. The three-game streak ties the 'Dogs longest in the series, which Appalachian State leads 50-22 all-time, since a series of games in 1974 and 1975. In those seasons, the Cadets won by scores of 77-76, 99-94 and 70-69.

Meanwhile, Appalachian State (20-11) comes into the game on a four-game winning streak to close out the month of February. Starting with a non-conference win over Tennessee Tech, 81-68, the Mountaineers rattled off three consecutive wins over Elon (58-54), Chattanooga (80-74) and Samford (82-68). Head Coach Buzz Peterson's squad is led on the offensive end by SoCon Media Player of the Year Donald Sims. In 31 games this season, Sims is averaging 20.4 points per game, including a team-best 102-for-237 from beyond the arc.

CONROY V. PETERSON, PART DEAUX: Tonight's meeting with Appalachian State will mark the second time in the head coaching careers of Ed Conroy and Buzz Peterson that the two have  gone head-to-head against one another. Coach Conroy grabbed an early advantage in the rivalry, defeating the Mountaineers 62-58 on Jan. 6. The careers of Conroy and Peterson have included four stops, dating back to the 1990 season when both worked at N.C. State. After working alongside Les Robinson with the Wolfpack (90-93), their relationship continued at Tulsa in 2000-01. They led the Golden Hurricane to the 2001 NIT Championship, before departing for the University of Tennessee.

From 2001-05 Peterson and Conroy shared the bench in Knoxville, making appearances in two NIT tournaments. The final stop for the pair came in 2005-06 at Coastal Carolina where they led the Chanticleers to an appearance in the Big South Tournament Championship and a 20-10 overall record. The Chants had a 13-year absence from the Championship, prior to their arrival, and completed the season at 12-4 in conference play that season.

CHARITABLE AFFAIR: Tonight's game will pit the top two free throw shooters in the conference, Cameron Wells and Donald Sims, in a head-to-head meeting for supremacy from the charity stripe. Wells, who ranks second in the Southern Conference and 33rd nationally, holds steady with an average of 86.4% (140-for-162) when sent to the line. Furthermore, he has finished 11 different games with a perfect mark from the line. As for Sims, who is knocking down free throws with a 95% accuracy on the season, he has 21 games in which he did not miss an attempt. Coincidentally, Sims leads the nation in free throw shooting percentage heading into the SoCon Tournament. Neither player has missed more than two free throws in one game through the course of the season.

BULLDOGS OPEN TOURNAMENT WITH WIN OVER SAMFORD: For the first time in the Ed Conroy era at The Citadel, the team won the opening game of the Southern Conference Tournament following a 55-43 victory over Samford at Bojangles Coliseum. Behind the trio of Cameron Wells (17 pts.), Harrison DuPont (13 pts.) and Austin Dahn (10 pts.), the 'Dogs completed the three-game sweep of an opponent for the first time since 1960 when they defeated in-state rival Furman. It marks the 11th all-time victory in SoCon Tournament play for the Bulldogs, dating back to the 1938 season. The second round will pit The Citadel with Appalachian State, the second meeting of the two schools since a Jan. 6 meeting in Boone.

The Citadel, who improves to 16-15 overall, held an opponent to under 47 points for the seventh time this season. Their staple defense limited Samford (11-20) to 16-of-51 (31.4%) shooting from the field, including a 5-for-27 performance from beyond the arc. The Cadets answered with a 17-for-47 (36.2%) shooting output, converting 5-for-17 at the 3-point line. The biggest difference came from the charity stripe, where The Citadel knocked down 16-of-18 (88.9%) free throws. Samford proved less successful with a 6-for-12 outing.

Wells led the team in scoring for the 18th time this season and second in as many games for the first time since late January, hitting 5-of-11 from the field. He finished the game 6-of-6 from the free throw line, marking the 11th different game of the season that he has a perfect mark from the charity stripe. Wells grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, two on the offensive glass, and dished out four assists. Teammate Harrison DuPont scored double figures for a third straight game, tying a season-long in his freshman season. Dahn rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points, hitting a pair of treys. Bryan Streeter anchored the Bulldogs post play with six rebounds, five on the defensive end, along with one steal.

WELLS 15 GUIDES BULLDOGS OVER MOUNTAINEERS (Jan. 6): Cameron Wells lit up Appalachian State for 15 second half points along with a critical assist on an Austin Dahn 3-pointer to move The Citadel to a 62-58 victory at Appalachian State. Wells finished with 21 points and four assists, both team-highs, on an 8-for-13 shooting performance. Teammate Austin Dahn added 14 points, hitting 4-of-9 from 3-point range, to lead the Bulldog reserves.

The Citadel (8-7, 2-1 SoCon) extended a first half lead to 13 points on a pair of Wells free throws at the 14:08 mark of the second half. Appalachian State followed with a 16-3 run, behind four points by Marcus Wright, slicing the lead to 49-48 with 6:24 remaining. Wells responded with a layup and jumper on back-to-back possessions, providing a four point cushion. Following a Donald Sims trey, again cutting the lead to one, the two teams continue to trade baskets. Up 57-55 with 1:06 remaining in the game, Wells penetrated to the basket and found Dahn for an open 3-pointer.

The Citadel finished with six offensive turnovers while Urbanus (five) and Wells (four) combined for nine assists. Bryan Streeter anchored the paint with a career-high tying nine rebounds. The team got eight points each from Joe Wolfinger and Urbanus. Daniel Eykyn finished with five points while Streeter added four points, two coming from the charity stripe.

As for Appalachian State, who falls to 7-7, 1-2 in conference play, Donald Sims netted a game-high 22 points. Teammate Isaac Butts grabbed 10 boards, eight on the defensive glass, in the loss. Andre Williamson knocked down 3-of-4 attempts to finish with seven points, finishing behind Sims. The Mountaineers converted 23-of-54 attempts (42.6%) and held a 38-26 edge on the glass.

MOUNTAINEERS CLOSE OUT SEASON WITH WIN OVER SAMFORD (Feb. 27): Five seniors started in their final regular season home game and helped Appalachian State University men's basketball to an 82-68 win over Samford on Saturday. The win gave the Southern Conference North division champion Mountaineers 20 victories on the season as the squad looks ahead to next weekend's league tournament in Charlotte.

Donald Sims entered the game as the Mountaineers held a 5-2 lead and immediately scored eight points to bolster the squad. He added six more later in the half and finished with a game-high 25 points on six three pointers and 8-of-14 shooting. The junior added four rebounds and three assists.

Appalachian (20-11, 13-5) came out firing, and after missing five of its first six shots, regrouped to take a 14-point lead late in the first half. In the period, the Apps shot 53.3 percent from the floor and 13-for-23 from downtown. For the game, ASU shot 56.9 percent from the floor.