Men's Basketball Southern Conference

College of Charleston rallies to down Citadel

Charleston, S.C.---College of Charleston guard Dontaye Draper scored 24 points, 16 in the second half, to lead CofC to a 66-63 come-from-behind victory over The Citadel in Southern Conference basketball action Thursday night in front of 4,972 fans at McAlister Field House.

College of Charleston (15-7, 8-4 SoCon) went on a 21-2 run in the final 4:40 to come from 16 points behind to earn their fifth straight over The Citadel. With the win, CofC takes a 38-37 advantage in the 100-year old series.

"We played 36 minutes of excellent basketball," stated Citadel coach Pat Dennis. "Unfortunately we couldn't come away with the game. We just had a melt down in the final minutes."

The Citadel (12-10, 4-8 SoCon) dominated the game for 35 minutes, but could not seem to find the basket in the final 4:40. The Bulldogs, who took a slim four-point, 30-26, advantage into the locker room at half time, looked as if they were going to pull away with the win.

Early in the second period Dennis' squad used runs of 10-2 and 13-4 to build their lead. The Bulldogs last run included a thunderous dunk from freshman forward Warren McLendon and five free throws from his brother, junior guard Donny McLendon.

However, the Cougars used 12 points from Draper in the waning minutes to steal the win away from the Military College of South Carolina. CofC's Bernard Jackson hit a lay-up with 5:01 remaining to start the miracle comeback. Combined with Draper's 12 points, the Cougars got nine more from Jackson, Tony Mitchell, Drew Hall and Jeff Horowitz during the comeback.

"I thought we did a great job of defending Mitchell," Dennis added. "But now they have Draper."

The Bulldogs, who have now lost five straight, were led by the McLendon brothers, Donny and Warren, as the pair of siblings each scored 16 points. Junior forward Matt Davis contributed 11 to The Citadel's cause. Warren McLendon also picked up his fourth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds.

Junior Kevin Hammack, who picked up one steal on the night, became The Citadel's all-time leader in steals with 150. Hammack surpassed Randy Nesbit who previously held the record with 149. With six assists, Hammack also continues to move up the career assist chart with 134, which currently ranks third.

CofC got 37 of its 63 from Draper and Jackson, respectively, while Robert Swain netted six and Josh Jackson followed with five. Bernard Jackson led the Cougars on the glass as he scraped the boards for six rebounds.

The Bulldogs will hit the road for their last road trip outside of the Lowcountry as they travel to Statesboro, GA to face Georgia Southern on Monday, February 14. The Cougars will stay in Charleston to host Davidson on Valentine's Day.