The Citadel men’s basketball team lost to Western Carolina 87–49 on Wednesday night at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The defeat moves The Citadel’s record to 9–17 overall and 6–7 in Southern Conference play, while Western Carolina improves to 9–15 overall and 5–8 in the conference.
Sola Adebisi led The Citadel with 10 points, making three of six shots from the field and hitting two three-pointers. Cassius Bonjasky contributed seven points off the bench, including a three-pointer and going a perfect three-for-three from the field. The Bulldogs finished with 25 points from their bench players.
Western Carolina took control early, making eight three-pointers and shooting 70 percent from the floor in the first half to build a 52–25 halftime lead. For the game, Western Carolina shot nearly 56 percent overall and just over 48 percent from beyond the arc. They also outrebounded The Citadel by a margin of 42–26.
Julien Soumaoro led Western Carolina with 15 points, while Tahlan Pettway and Tidjiane Dioumassi each added 12 points.
The Citadel shot just under 29 percent from the field and about 22 percent from three-point range but converted on all but one of their free throws, finishing 13-of-14 at the line. Kingsbury collected five rebounds for The Citadel, marking his seventh game in eight outings with at least four rebounds. Five different Bulldogs recorded at least one steal during the contest.
After the game, head coach Ed Conroy said, “We’ve got to do a better job closing out on shooters. They went 13-of-27 from three, and when a team gets that comfortable in its own building, it’s hard to recover.” Looking ahead to returning home for their final homestand, Conroy added, “We’ve played well at home this year. We’re looking forward to getting back to McAlister and having our fans behind us for this final stretch.”
The Citadel will return home next week for its last three-game homestand of the season. The stretch begins Saturday, Feb. 14 against Mercer at McAlister Field House.
