SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team (11-9, 5-2) rode a strong first half to defeat The Citadel (5-13, 0-7) 79-68 on Wednesday night in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The team shot 77.8 percent from the field during the first stanza to jump out to a 26-point lead.
 
"We definitely got off to good start," said head coach Dwight Perry. "I thought we were really locked in and connected on the defensive end. Credit to The Citadel for responding and doing a good job in the second half. We played a clean and really connected first half that helped us win."
 
Wofford finished the game shooting 56.3 percent (27-48) from the field and knocked down nine threes at a 36 percent rate. The Citadel finished the night shooting 36.2 percent (21-58) and hit 13 threes at a 35.1 percent clip. The Terriers notched 18 assists on 27 made baskets with Jeremy Lorenz tying his career high of six assists.
 
The team was led by four double-digit scorers as Jackson Sivills tied his career best of 19 points. The senior guard scored 12 second half points including six free throws. Justin Bailey and Kyler Filewich followed behind with 12 points each. Dillon Bailey rounded out the group with 11 points.
 
The Terriers won the battle on the glass, too, outrebounding The Citadel 40-23. The team grabbed seven offensive rebounds as well. Dillon Bailey paced the team with a season-high seven rebounds along with six from Corey Tripp. Jackson Sivills, Kyler Filewich, and Jeremy Lorenz pulled down five boards apiece.
 
Justin Bailey kicked things off for the group, scoring four-straight points in what started an 11-0 run immediately after tip-off. Jeremy Lorenz and Corey Tripp scored a pair of easy layups, along with Dillon Bailey hitting a trio of free throws to close out the run. The Citadel answered with a three-pointer, but Jackson Sivills scored five-straight to make it a 16-3 lead with 14:42 remaining in the first half.
 
Another deep ball from The Citadel shortened the lead to 10, however, six unanswered points allowed the team to gain control for the remainder of the stanza. Those six points were part of a 17-3 run over the next six minutes of gametime. The Terriers would take a 52-26 lead headed into the break.
 
Wofford shot an astounding 77.8 percent from the field in the first half and only missed six shots all half. On those six shots, the team grabbed five offensive rebounds on those misses. During that half, the Terriers held The Citadel to 30.8 percent as the team maintained a 26-point lead.
 
"We came out really well to start the game," said Kyler Filewich. "The second half we kind of let them back in it. It's the second conference win in a row for us, so we are glad we could come up with a win tonight."
 
The Citadel fought back, though, rattling off 13-straight points to start the second frame. Jackson Sivills ended the 4:10 scoring drought for the team after hitting a three-pointer. Eight more points from The Citadel capped off a 21-3 run that lasted just over seven minutes. During that span, the Bulldogs cut the lead to eight points.
 
Wofford scored eight unanswered to give the team a little bit of breathing room, but a five-point swing put the lead back down to 10 points with 8:39 remaining. Jackson Sivills had an answer for every punch The Citadel threw, as he hit another three-pointer to end the skid.
 
The Terriers were great from the free throw line down the stretch, as Dillon Bailey and Jackson Sivills scored the final eight points from the charity stripe to seal the win. Wofford has now won two-straight conference games and has claimed victories in seven of the last nine outings.
 
Wofford will be back in action on Saturday, as the team will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to take on Samford University. The game will serve as the SoCon/Ingles Game of the Week and can be streamed on CW62 and ESPN+.