CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team suffered its first road loss in Southern Conference action on Wednesday night, seeing its four-game win streak come to an end at the hands of The Citadel (9-4, 2-4 SoCon) at McAlister Field House, 77-69. After ending the first half on a 10-0 run, the Bulldogs carried the momentum into the final half, outscoring Wofford 39-27 in the frame to come away with their second conference win of the season.
 
The victory snaps a four-game skid for The Citadel, as Wofford moves to 9-5 overall and 6-2 in the Southern Conference.
 
"An eight-point game, especially on the road, unfortunately, we took some bait from them and played their style and allowed some missed shots to affect our defense," said head coach Jay McAuley. "If you recall, at 42-28, they went on a 10-0 run and we never recovered."
 
"In there [the locker room], we always speak the truth," said McAuley of the team's postgame response. "We didn't handle some things very well. We weren't very mentally tough in stretches and we really caved in to where things just compounded when we weren't making shots and it affected our activity and our defensive grit."
 
The Citadel, who leads the nation in 3-point field goals per game (13.2), connected on 14-of-27 from beyond the arc in the contest (51.9%) – the most 3-pointers Wofford has allowed in a game this season, ranked second in the conference for 3-point field goal defense (.308) heading into Wednesday evening. 
 
On the other hand, the Terriers were just 34.8 percent from the field for the contest (24-of-69), while The Citadel held Wofford to a season-low five 3-pointers on the night (5-of-29, 17.2%).
 
Despite a tough shooting night from the floor, Wofford hit a season-high 88.9 percent of its tries from the free-throw line (16-for-18).
 
Named to the Lou Henson Award mid-season watch list on Tuesday, senior Storm Murphy led the Terriers on the night with 16 points, hitting 2-of-6 from deep (33.3%) and 4-of-4 from the line, in 34 minutes. Sophomore Messiah Jones returned with a strong 13-point performance for Wofford in his first game back, hitting 5-of-7 from the floor and going 3-for-3 from the charity stripe to go along with four rebounds, one assist and a block in 20 minutes.
 
Senior Tray Hollowell and freshman Max Klesmit finished with nine points apiece, as Klesmit pulled down a career-high seven rebounds, while Hollowell grabbed five rebounds to couple with an assist and steal in a team-high 36 minutes.

Sophomore B.J. Mack finished with eight points, including a career-best 4-for-4 from the line, five rebounds and matched a season-best two assists on the night.
 
The contest opened with both teams trading buckets in high-tempo fashion up until the midway point, seeing Wofford lead 17-14 by the under-12 media timeout (11:15). Storm Murphy would get fouled on a 3-point attempt from the top of the key, as his three makes at the line would be the catalyst for a 12-0 run that busted the margin out to double digits, 29-14.
 
Ryan Larson drilled a corner trey on a find from Hollowell before B.J. Mack converted a big and-one finish in the paint for a 12-point lead. Murphy then capped the run with a knockdown trey to force a Bulldogs timeout with 9:32 left to play.
 
Wofford reached its largest lead of the night at 16 points (33-17) before maintaining a 14-point spread after Keaton Turner converted an and-one finish with contact (36-22), though, The Citadel's Kaiden Rice heated up with an and-one of his own, followed by a 3-pointer, to cut the margin to eight, 36-28 (4:53).
 
A quick 6-0 spurt on scores from Murphy, Nick Pringle and Klesmit brought the margin back to double digits, 42-28, before The Citadel's Hayden Brown fueled a momentum-swinging 10-0 run to end the half trailing by four, 42-38.
 
The Bulldogs carried the momentum into the second half, as a Fletcher Abee three capped a 13-2 run to extend a 51-44 Bulldogs lead that forced a Wofford timeout four minutes in. Max Klesmit drilled a corner three out of the timeout, however, a Bulldogs three answered to push an 8-0 run that gave The Citadel its first double-digit margin of the contest, 59-47 (11:49).
 
The Terriers managed to cut the margin within single digits, but The Citadel continued to answer each time down, holding a 10-point lead with 8:57 left (64-54). Wofford began to make strides, seeing a pair of free throws from B.J. Mack and a Tray Hollowell 3-pointer bring the score within five, 64-59, though, the Bulldogs answered with another three of their own, hitting eight in the half, to keep a 67-59 cushion.
 
Storm Murphy followed with an and-one lay at the rim, hitting the free throw to summon another five-point spread (67-62), though, it would be the closest Wofford would get for the remainder of the contest, as another 8-0 Citadel run busted its lead back to 13 points with just 1:39 to play, 75-62.
 
A late four-point swing from Messiah Jones cut the margin to nine with under a minute left (76-67), but The Citadel would survive a late run-and-jump press scenario from Wofford to ultimately come away with the 77-69 win as time expired.
 
Wofford saw 35 points from its bench, compared to the Bulldogs' eight, while outscoring The Citadel in points off turnovers (16-9), points inside the paint (36-24) and second-chance points (14-7).
 
A cold second half would be all the difference for the Terriers, nonetheless, hitting just 8-of-32 from the floor (25.0%) and 17.6 percent of its 3-point attempts (3-for-17) in the final 20 minutes.

The Citadel saw three finish in double figures, led by Kaiden Rice with 21 points and seven rebounds, followed by Tyler Moffe (18), who was 5-for-5 from 3-point range, and Hayden Brown with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds.  
 
"Unfortunately, we learned that lesson in a loss, but we'll be back," added McAuley. "We'll bounce back. Those guys are big boys in there and they'll grow. They care a lot and we'll set our eyes to getting better and moving on."
 
Next, Wofford (9-5, 6-2 SoCon) returns back to action at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, hosting Mercer on Saturday, January 30, for a 4 p.m. tip.