Terriers hand Dogs third straight loss

SPARTANBURG -- The Citadel will take a three-game losing streak into next week's Southern Conference basketball tournament after a 75-66 loss at Wofford on Saturday night.

But the Bulldogs also can take comfort in the knowledge that top scorer Cameron Wells has busted out of a late-season slump just in time for the tournament, which starts Friday in Charlotte.

Wells, shooting just 26.5 percent and averaging 12.3 points over his last three games, hit 10 of 16 shots and scored 25 points against Wofford. The Bulldogs shot 52.9 percent as a team after managing just 53 and 44 points in losses to UNC Greensboro and Furman.

"Sometimes as teams go through a season, they have to remake themselves," said coach Ed Conroy, whose team ended the regular season at 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the SoCon. "We've had to do that a little bit, and I think you saw some of the results of that, at least on the offensive end.

"We didn't see all those results on the defensive end, but I think by the time we get to the tournament, we'll be ready to guard teams the way we want to."

The Bulldogs' defense could not slow down the 23-8 Terriers, who showed no signs of a hangover after clinching the de facto regular season SoCon title with Thursday's big win over College of Charleston. Wofford won its 10th straight game to wrap up the regular season with a 15-3 mark in the SoCon and a No. 1 seed in next week's tournament.

Noah Dahlman scored 18 points for Wofford, which shot 52.2 percent from the field and made 6 of 12 from 3-point range. Guard Jamar Diggs added 16 points and forward Tim Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds.

While Wofford enjoys a first-round bye in the SoCon Tournament, The Citadel is the No. 4 seed from the South Division and will play the North No. 5 team at 7 p.m. Friday at Charlotte's Bojangles Coliseum.

That North No. 5 team will be either UNC Greensboro (6-22, 5-12) or Samford (11-19, 5-13), depending on the outcome of UNCG's game with visiting Georgia Southern on Monday night.

The Citadel lost its only meeting with UNC Greensboro this season, by 59-53 last Saturday, and beat Samford twice -- 51-50 on Jan. 16 and 61-57 on Feb. 1.

Against Wofford, Wells' resurgence wasn't the only positive sign for the Bulldogs. The Citadel hit 7 of 18 shots from 3-point range, including 3 of 3 by Wells.

Freshman forward Harrison DuPont continued his fine play with 16 points and seven rebounds, giving him double-figure points in seven of the last nine games. With Bryan Streeter under the weather, 7-footer Joe Wolfinger played 16 minutes with eight points and two rebounds.

The Bulldogs cut a 36-29 halftime deficit to 46-42 on a Wells jumper with 15:15 to play. But Rundles and Jason Dawson nailed 3-pointers to key a 12-2 run that lifted Wofford to a 58-44 advantage. The Terriers' lead reached 15 at 65-50 on Dahlman's 3-point play with 6:02 left, and the Bulldogs could get only as close as 10 points after that.