January 19, 2011

CHARLESTON, S.C.- The Citadel Basketball team hosts Appalachian State on Thursday evening to begin stretch that will bring seven of the next nine opponents to McAlister Field House. The game, which is set to tip at 7:05 p.m., will feature the inaugural meeting of coaches Jason Capel (Appalachian State) and Chuck Driesell (The Citadel), both of whom are in their first year on the bench. Driesell and Capel are two of 13 active NCAA Division I coaches that have father's who also served as head coaches. The Bulldogs are looking to extend their regular season win streak to four straight games over the Mountaineers, while avenge a season-ending loss in the SoCon Tournament last season.

NEEDING A BAKERS DOZEN: Senior Austin Dahn wrapped up a three-game in six-day stretch where he tallied 26 points on 10-of-31 shooting, as he moved into 30th on the school's all-time scoring list with 987 points. Dahn, who finished with six points, converted a pair of 3-pointers in the victory over Samford. His second half trey gave the Bulldogs a 57-50 lead with just under one minute remaining, helping to give Citadel Head Coach Chuck Driesell his first SoCon road victory. Dahn needs 13 points to become the 29th player in Citadel history with 1,000 points. Trailing only Jamie Jenkins (1994-98) with 999 points, Dahn would be the second member of the Bulldogs to reach the milestone this season.

Earlier this season teammate Zach Urbanus moved into 1,000-point list when he scored 16 points against James Madison (Nov. 20). Dahn is making a strong push to join Urbanus (1,175), Demetrius Nelson (1,264) and Cameron Wells (1,808) as the 15th set of teammates with 1,000 career points to play alongside each other. Further, they would become the second quartet of teammates in Bulldog history with 1,000 points to take to the court since 2002 when Travis Cantrell, Alan Puckett, Cliff Washburn and Michael Joseph accomplished the feat.

CITADEL STARTING FIVE AGAINST APPALACHIAN STATE: The Citadel has nine players on its current roster that have seen action against visiting Appalachian State. The Bulldogs have won their last three regular season meetings over the Mountaineers, dating back to a 74-72 victory on Feb. 5, 2009 at the Holmes Center. The projected starting lineup of Austin Dahn, Mike Groselle, Bo Holston, Zach Urbanus and Cameron Wells have combined for 17 career starts against ASU.

The Cadets have enjoyed tremendous success from the 3-point against Appalachian State, hitting a combined 27-of-67 (40.3%) over the course of the last four outings. Senior Zach Urbanus is responsible for 21-of-41 (51.2%) from beyond the arc in his six head-to-head meetings with the Mountaineers. Dahn (12-30) has converted the second most treys by a probable starter, while Daniel Eykyn (2-7) leads the reserves. Cameron Wells leads all Citadel scorers with 108 points (18.0 ppg.), while Urbanus (78) and Dahn (54) follow for projected starters. Coincidentally, the senior trio of Wells (46.1%), Urbanus (38.1%) and Dahn (34.0%) lead the Cadets in field goal percentage as well. Coach Driesell can expect a solid outing from fifth-year senior Bryan Streeter who comes off the bench with 33 points, hitting 13-of-23 (56.5%) from the field, in three career starts against the Mountaineers.

Wells is also The Citadel's current leader in rebounds against ASU, hauling in 28 boards. Meanwhile, Streeter is a close second with 27 rebounds, including a team-high 10 offensive. Streeter shares the team lead in blocked shots with Dahn and Matt Clark, who each have one. The Cadets have had success defensively against Appalachian State with 12 steals by Wells and four each by Clark and Urbanus.

The backcourt of Wells and Urbanus, who have dished out a combined 45 career assists against ASU, will need to limit their total career turnovers (20) to provide The Citadel with offensive success. Another key for the Bulldogs will come from the free throw line, where Wells has managed 22-of-27 (81.5%) in his career. The tandem of Dahn and Urbanus are second with a pair of 8-of-10 career performances.

CATCH-22: Citadel point guard Cameron Wells has tallied 20 points or more in 35 contests during the course of his career in a Bulldog uniform. Among those, Wells has eclipsed the 20-point plateau on 23 occasions against nine different Southern Conference opponents. The only two schools not to surrender at least 20 points to the senior guard have been UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina. In six career meetings against Appalachian State, he has victimized the Mountaineers with three 20-plus point outings, making a four-way tie for most career head-to-head 20-point games against a single SoCon opponent. Wells, the Bulldogs leading scorer in conference play (116 pts.), has finished with 20 points in three of the last four games at Furman (22 pts.), College of Charleston (26 pts.) and Samford (22 pts.).

Team	Wells' 20-point outings vs.
Appalachian State	3
Chattanooga	3
College of Charleston	1
Davidson	4
Elon	1
Furman	3
Georgia Southern	3
Samford	2
UNC Greensboro	0
Western Carolina	0
Wofford	2

ROUGH BEGINNING: First-year head coach Chuck Driesell has led The Citadel against 11 teams that have won 11 games or more this season, including seven that are ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA RPI (as of Jan. 16). The Bulldogs have played nine of these teams on their own court, while James Madison, St. Mary's College (Md.) and Chattanooga have visited McAlister Field House. During three separate stretches this season Driesell's Citadel unit have played consecutive games against teams that won 11 or more games, most recently at Furman (Jan. 8), vs. Chattanooga (Jan. 13) and at College of Charleston (Jan. 17). While The Citadel has yet to face an NCAA Division I ranked opponent, St. Mary's College (Md.) is currently ranked 13th in the recent D3hoops.com poll.

Opponent	W-L Record	RPI Ranking	Date of Citadel Meeting
Richmond	13-5	83	Nov. 12
Charleston Southern	11-8	199	Nov. 16
James Madison	15-3	61	Nov. 20
Coastal Carolina	16-2	72	Nov. 27
St. Mary's College (Md.)	12-4	N/A	Dec. 6
Colorado	14-5	71	Dec. 17
New Mexico	13-5	70	Dec. 19
Clemson	13-5	90	Jan. 2
Furman	12-5	138	Jan. 8
Chattanooga	11-8	188	Jan. 13
College of Charleston	12-6	75	Jan. 15
Samford	10-8	239	Jan. 27

PREVIEWING APPALACHIAN STATE (8-9 Overall, 4-3 SoCon)

CARTER AND WILLIAMSON LEAD APPALACHIAN STATE PAST ELON (Jan. 17): Omar Carter scored a game-high 22 points and Andre Williamson recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead Appalachian State University men's basketball to a 79-71 victory over visiting Elon on Monday evening at the Holmes Center.

Appalachian (8-9, 4-3 SoCon) never trailed in the ballgame and closed out a grueling three-games-in-five-days stretch by rebounding from back-to-back one-point losses to UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina.
Carter hit 10-of-15 shots from the field and Williamson made all seven shots that he attempted (5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line) to pace the Mountaineers, who moved to 5-1 at home this season.

As a team, ASU shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) and out-rebounded Elon (8-10, 2-5 SoCon), 43-33. The Phoenix stayed in the game by making 10 -of-28 three-pointers, compared to five out of 15 for the Apps.

The Mountaineers earned a 37-34 advantage at the intermission thanks in part to an 11-of-12 mark at the foul line and Carters' 5-of-7 shooting, good for 11 points  before the break.
Early in the second half, ASU opened its lead to nine points before the Phoenix began to threaten. Chris Long led four Elon players in double figures with 15 points and 10 rebounds as the visitors got as close as three points on two occasions.

Lucas Troutman scored two of his 13 points on a jumper in the pain with 7:37 remaining to pull his squad back within five points, but ASU responded with nine-straight points and did not led Elon any closer than six points the remainder of the night.

The Mountaineers sank 5-of-7 free throws in the final two and a half minutes to protect a 74-65 lead and ice the game.

CATAMOUNTS BUZZER-BEATER TURNS BACK MOUNTAINEERS (Jan. 15): Marcus Wright gave Appalachian State University men's basketball a one-point lead with less than two minutes to play but Western Carolina's Mike Williams responded with a buzzer-beating jumper to finish off the Mountaineers and earn a rare win in the lopsided rivalry, 79-78, at the Ramsey Center.

Neither team gained more than a seven-point advantage throughout the hard-fought contest as ASU owned a six-point lead with six minutes to play. Though WCU tied the game six times in the second half, it wasn't until Brandon Boggs drained a layup with 2:32 on the clock that the Catamounts took their first lead in the frame.

It was late in the next ASU possession that Appalachian (7-9, 3-3 SoCon) regained the lead on Wright's jumper at the top of the key with 1:54 remaining in the game.

Each team missed its next two shot attempts as the clock ran down, giving the Catamounts (8-10, 4-2) a chance for the game's final possession with 26 seconds remaining.

Following a WCU timeout, Richie Gordon missed a layup but a tie-up on the rebound kept the ball with the home team as the possession arrow favored the Cats with just 4.3 ticks left. Harouna Mutombo received the inbounds pass and kicked it out to Williams on the right corner. The guard faked a three-pointer and stepped up to knock down the game-winning jumper before time expired.

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