Urbanus, Dogs hold off Mocs

Cameron Wells missed 17 of 20 shots in The Citadel's last two games. And the Bulldogs won both of them.

Once upon a time, that would not have been possible. But the Bulldogs are finding new contributors as the Southern Conference basketball season heads down the stretch.

Junior guard Zach Urbanus scored a season-best 24 points, and Austin Dahn and Bo Holston made big plays in crunch time as The Citadel held off Chattanooga, 68-60, before 2,063 fans Saturday night at McAlister Field House.

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Citadel vs Chattanooga

The Citadel hosted Chattanooga on Saturday.

The Bulldogs' second straight win boosted them to 12-12 overall and 6-6 in the SoCon South heading into Monday's rematch with the College of Charleston.

And the ability to win without huge scoring nights from Wells is an encouraging development for coach Ed Conroy's team. Wells, averaging 20.5 points in SoCon games starting the week, was 2 of 10 from the field for eight points in Thursday's 61-57 win over Samford, and hit just 1 of 10 shots and scored 11 points against Chattanooga.

"Our other guys are starting to get some confidence," Conroy said. "They are starting to find their areas where they can step in and have some production on the scoreboard. And that's big. But while they are doing that, we're also continuing to defend and rebound. When those shots go in, we can play some pretty good ball."

That's not to say Wells didn't play a vital role in both wins. Against the Mocs (13-12, 5-7), the 6-1 junior added 10 rebounds and seven assists to his 11 points, committing one turnover in 37 minutes.

"Cam is such a good player and draws so much attention," Urbanus said. "He's drawing the defense in, and Austin and I and the other guards have been ready to shoot and play off of him. That's a good thing."

Urbanus matched his career high with seven 3-pointers on 16 attempts, and has had some of this best games against the Mocs, hitting 7 of 14 for 24 points as a freshman and 6 of 12 for 24 points last season.

"You have to make a choice," said Mocs coach John Shulman. "Wells is so good off the bounce. If you help on Wells, then you give up threes. If you don't help on Wells, he's going to score 50. Urbanus, Wells and Dahn, they've played more league games than our whole team. They know what it's about."

Dahn, a 6-4 junior, has regained his stroke after totaling just two points in losses at Georgia Southern and Davidson last week. He scored 15 points against Samford, and came back with three 3-pointers and 11 points with four assists against the Mocs.

Holston, meanwhile, filled the hero-off-the-bench role that Ben Cherry played against Samford. Holston, a 6-4 sophomore who had played in just 12 previous games, scored seven points with nine rebounds in 22 minutes. Dahn's trey at 3:55 and Holston's 3-point play at 2:46 gave The Citadel a 61-53 lead after the Mocs had cut a nine-point gap to one.

Ty Patterson scored 19 points and Ridge McKeither had 13 points and 18 rebounds for his fourth double-double for the Mocs, who hit just 10 of 20 free throws and had 14 turnovers.

Shulman's switch to a 2-3 zone helped the Mocs cut a 49-40 deficit to 52-51, before Dahn hit two treys to force Chattanooga out of the zone.

"It's all about stops," said Shulman, whose team lost all five starters from the squad that won the SoCon Tournament a year ago. "We didn't get them, and we looked like an immature team late in the game."