Bulldogs, Cougars Renew Rivalry on Thursday to Open SoCon Slate

Final	1	2	T
The Citadel (2-4, 0-0)	33	31	64
College of Charleston (6-1, 0-0)	41	42	83
TD Arena - Charleston, S.C.

The Citadel	College of Charleston
Pts: Mike Groselle - 20	Pts: WIEDEMAN, Trent - 22
Reb: Mike Groselle - 19	Reb: WIEDEMAN, Trent - 10
Ast: Marshall Harris III - 4	Ast: LAWRENCE, Andrew - 7

Team Statistics	The Citadel	College of Charleston
Field Goal %	40.0% (26-65 )	50.0% (37-74 )
Rebounds	43	34
Assists	13	12
Turnovers	21	10
Pts off Turnovers	10	22
2nd Chance Pts	18	9
Bench Pts	7	18

full stats

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The Citadel-College of Charleston Game Notes

Charleston, S.C. — The 87th installment of the crosstown rivalry between The Citadel and College of Charleston in basketball action on Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools to open the Southern Conference schedule. The game is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3 as well as MyTV (Channel 13 Comcast). The Bulldogs are heading into the contest with a split in their last two games, following a tough 80-72 overtime loss at High Point on Saturday evening.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: The Citadel Basketball program has started their Southern Conference slate on the road on only 32 occasions since joining the league in 1936. In that time, the Bulldogs are 8-28 in SoCon road openers, including a 2-8 mark over the last 10 away from McAlister Field House, dating back to the 1987-88 campaign. The Cadets have never played at the College of Charleston to open the SoCon schedule. Their six road contests against former league opponent, South Carolina (member from 1921-1953), mark the most against any one conference opponent.

EXPERIENCING THE CITADEL-COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON RIVALRY: Only four current Bulldogs have played in the crosstown rivalry with the College of Charleston, including Cosmo Morabbi, Bo Holston, Mike Groselle and DeVontae Wright. Morabbi, the lone senior of Bulldogs 2011-12 roster, has made four appearances against the Cougars totaling 23 points on 8-of-16 field goals. Junior center Mike Groselle, who missed his first meetings against CofC during the 2008-09 season due to an injured ankle, came through with a 15-point, nine-rebound outing at TD Bank Arena on Jan. 15 in his first ever meeting. Groselle followed that performance with a 10-point, 10-rebound game at McAlister Field House on Feb. 17. Goose Creek native DeVontae Wright experienced his first taste of the intracity rivalry last season, scoring four points, all on free throws, in eight minutes of action.

STREAK ALIVE AT SIX CONSECUTIVE: Junior center Mike Groselle moved his consecutive double-double streak to six games over the weekend, following a 15-point, 13-rebound outing against High Point. Groselle, who established the program record for most consecutive double-doubles (five) against Florida Christian on Nov. 26, placed himself in a tie with Kent Hill for sixth most double-doubles in Citadel basketball history.

The current string of double-doubles dates back to the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament against Elon, when he finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He carried that performance over to the All-Military Classic where he recorded 25 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opener against VMI. Less than 24 hours later, Groselle finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds in an 83-72 comeback victory over Army. That placed him in unique company as the first player in program history to have two separate stretches of three double-doubles in his career.  Groselle extended the streak to four straight when he finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds against Clemson on Nov. 16, tying marks set by Regan Truesdale and J'Mel Everhart for four consecutive double-doubles. In his record-setting performance against Florida Christian, Groselle tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds in a 97-44 victory at McAlister Field House.

PALMETTO STATE WARRIORS: Beginning with the College of Charleston, the next four games on the docket will pit The Citadel against teams from the state of South Carolina. The Bulldogs are 403-443 (.476 winning pct.) in program history against teams from the Palmetto State, including 20 wins or more against six in-state institutions, over the course of the last 101 seasons. Those six institutions include Clemson (22 wins), College of Charleston (39 wins), Furman (83 wins), Newberry (49 wins), Presbyterian (46 wins) and South Carolina (25 wins).

CLUTCH SHOT BY HARRIS III PUSHES BULLDOGS, PANTHERS INTO OVERTIME SESSION: The Citadel's Mike Groselle posted his sixth straight double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds), but it was High Point's Nick Barbour that made the difference in overtime, as the Panthers emerged with an 80-72 overtime victory at the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center on Saturday evening. Groselle was joined by teammates Lawrence Miller (14 points), Ashton Moore (12 points) and Marshall Harris III (10 points), who all reached double figures.

The Citadel (2-3) converted 10 3-pointers in the contest behind the tandem of Moore (4-9) and Miller (3-8). Also knocking down long range shots for the Dogs were Barry Smith (1-4), Cosmo Morabbi (1-3) and Harris III (1-4). As a unit, the Cadets managed 27-for-70 (38.6%), 10-for-30 (33.3%) from 3-point range and knocked down 8-of-13 (61.5%) of their free throws. Groselle (7-13) was one of four Bulldogs, along with Harris III (4-9), Miller (4-10) and Moore (4-12), to finish with four or more made field goals. Harris III dished out six assists in the contest, marking the third time in his five career contest that he has eclipsed the six-assist plateau. Groselle's seven offensive rebounds were instrumental in giving The Citadel a 17-9 edge in second chance points.

The trio of Xavier Martin (21 points), Barbour (20 points) and Corey Law (13 points) carried the Panthers offensively. High Point managed 27-of-59 (45.8%) from the field, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range. The difference came from the charity stripe, which HPU visited on 31 occasions, knocking down 19 shots. Law crashed the boards for a game-high 15 rebounds, giving himself a double-double, while teammate Devante Wallace hauled in 10 rebounds, three offensively. HPU improved to 2-3 overall on the season following the victory.

PREVIEWING COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (5-1 OVERALL)

COUGARS DOWN MINUTEMEN, 85-61: Freshman Anthony Stitt came off the bench and ignited the offense as the College of Charleston men's basketball team defeated a tough, defensive-minded UMass squad, 85-61, in the fifth-place consolation game of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament held Nov. 26 at the Atlantis Resort's Imperial Arena.

Stitt, who has played in only six total games for the Cougars (5-1), knocked down a career-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 shooting from downtown. He was one of three players in double figures as CofC went 2-1 in tournament play with wins over UNC Asheville and UMass (5-2).

Senior Antwaine Wiggins registered his second consecutive 20-point outing matching Stitt's 23 on 8-of-14 shooting with three long-distance treys, while redshirt junior Matt Sundberg added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Field-goal shooting was the difference in the game. The Cougars shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field making 14-of-25 attempts in the second half of play. They also made 12-of-23 from three-point range.

UMass, who had held opponents to just 38.8 percent shooting from the floor and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc prior to the contest, had its role reversed and shot only 34.7 percent (25-of-72) against the Cougars.   

The Minutemen were paced by 12 points from reserve Cady Lalanne.

The Cougars led 38-34 at halftime and broke the game open with a 20-4 run in the second half. A layup by Stitt capped the run and gave CofC a 68-47 lead with 6:50 remaining in regulation.

For more information on Bulldog Basketball, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.