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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s basketball team withstood sharp three-point shooting by The Citadel in the second half to take a 66-63 win on Saturday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Noah Dahlman led the Terriers with 17 points.

Wofford is 7-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference, while The Citadel is 8-10, 3-4 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 17 points and Tim Johnson with eight rebounds. Junior Salters returned to the starting line-up after missing five games and had 15 points. The Citadel was led by Demetrius Nelson with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Cosmo Morabbi added twelve points, all on three pointers.

“The Citadel is as tough as nails,” said head coach Mike Young. “All that matters in the end is that we won. The Citadel played very well in the second half and made a bunch of shots. I do not think it was us being poor defensively, it was The Citadel making some big-time plays. We will take it. I thought we played well to hold them to 39% on the night from the field. That is great for us. Our team played well, and we had to play well to beat them.”

The game started slow, with a 4-4 tie after the first five minutes for play. With Wofford holding an 8-7 lead at 14:07, the Terriers went on a 9-0 run to take a ten point lead. A three-pointer by Junior Salters and a dunk by Terry Martin extended the lead to 27-13 at the 6:54 mark in the first half.

A second dunk by Terry Martin at 4:42 gave the Terriers a 33-17 lead, their largest of the night. The Citadel chipped away in the final minutes and with a lay-up by Demetrius Nelson at the buzzer the Bulldogs were down 35-25 at the half.

In the second half, the Bulldogs pulled with in three points after a three by Zach Urbanus at 14:27 for a 40-37 score. The Citadel used a stretch of five straight made three’s to take their first lead of the night at 49-48 at 9:23. Wofford answered with a three by Junior Salters, but Cosmo Morabbi hit from three to regain the lead at 52-51 for the Bulldogs.

After the game was tied at 54-54, Cosmo Morabbi hit again from three for the lead. Junior Salters was able to answer for Wofford and tied the game at 59-59 with 3:57 remaining. The Bulldogs made a free throw to take a one-point lead, but then Junior Salters hit a bucket and free throw to give the Terriers a 62-60 lead. Noah Dahlman then made a lay-up for a four-point advantage, but the Bulldogs answered as Daniel Eykyn hit a three to make it a 64-63 game.

In the final 1:32 of the game, Noah Dahlman hit two-of-four free throws and the Bulldogs missed three three-point attempts as the Terriers held on for the 66-63 final score. In the second half, The Citadel made 8-of-14 three point attempts (57.1%).

Wofford shot 57.1% from the floor and 60.0% from three. The Terriers were 80.0% from the line. The Bulldogs shot 39.0% from the floor and 37.5% from behind the arc. The Citadel was 80.0% from the free throw line. The Citadel had a 32-27 advantage on the boards and forced 15 turnovers by the Terriers.

Wofford was without guard Corey Godzinski, who will miss approximately four weeks due to a broken hand. Noah Dahlman has scored in double-figures in the last thirteen games. The Terriers have now won four straight games against The Citadel in the series. Wofford was out-rebounded for only the second time this season – the other occasion was at Clemson.

The Terriers hit the road for a contest at Georgia Southern on Thursday, January 22, and then remain on the road to visit Davidson on Saturday, January 24. The next home game is Monday, January 26 against Elon.