Najdawi, The Citadel knock off Furman 100-92 in overtime

Feb 3, 2018, 08:54 pm

CHARLOTTE, S.C. -- Zane Najdawi scored 28 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and Frankie Johnson drove for one layup to force overtime and another to give The Citadel the lead for good in the extra period on Saturday and the Bulldogs defeated Furman 100-92 to cap an intense three-win home stand.

Languishing near the bottom of the Southern Conference standings four games ago, The Citadel (9-14, 4-7) took undefeated conference leader ETSU to overtime, losing by two on the road when a last-second 3 rimmed out. Once home, the Bulldogs defeated Mercer for the first time in 91 years a week ago, rallied to bump off Wofford, one of the conference leaders, on Thursday, and did it again to Furman (16-8, 7-4) Saturday.

The Paladins held a 17-point lead with 9:13 remaining when Devin Sibley hit a 3-pointer. The Citadel marched back, making its last seven field-goal attempts with Johnson driving to the hoop to tie 88-88 with 4.8 seconds remaining.

The rally continued into the overtime as Johnson drove for the go-ahead and kissed it off the glass for a 90-88 lead, the Bulldogs first since 25-24 of the first half, and they never let Furman come back, making 10 of 11 free throws.

Kaelon Harris scored 11 of his 18 points as The Citadel shot 12 of 15 during the pivotal game-ending run. Matt Frierson scored 21 points, Johnson finished with nine points and nine assists.

Furman was 4 of 11 with three turnovers in the late-game Citadel rally. John Davis and Sibley each scored 18.