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Battle of the Bulldogs, Fans
January 8, 2012 3:07 am ET by Joe Wright

Game #8-359: Samford Bulldogs at The Citadel Bulldogs

January 7, 2012 7:05 pm
McAlister Field House
BBState Stats/Recap

There are many college teams which have the same nicknames. The most popular nicknames are the Tigers, Bears, Wildcats, and the Bulldogs. Next year, there will be three Tigers in the SEC: LSU, Missouri, and Auburn.

In the Southern Conference, there are two teams with the nickname Bulldogs. They are The Citadel and Samford. They are two SoCon teams which have a lot to improve on. The Citadel was 3-11 going into the game, with their only wins being Army, Florida Christian and Virginia-Wise on Monday. They were blown out by 32 at Furman on Thursday.

Two of Samford's three wins on the year were against non-D1 teams, Lindsey Wilson and Spring Hill.

I got to the arena about 15 minutes before game time. The crowd ended up being a small one, much like most Citadel games when they aren't playing College of Charleston or a major opponent.

Almost every Southern Conference school has some sort of fan base that they bring into Charleston. Only Charlotte, Atlanta and Greenville have more in the South. You have College of Charleston and The Citadel with their big fan bases, Furman and Wofford always brings a good crowd to games locally, Davidson has an alumni club here, and Georgia Southern has a large amount of alums because they are so close (only two hours).

Appalachian State always brings a lot of fans, and the other North Carolina schools always have a few fans. Samford, however, being a tiny private school of less than 4,500 students (including graduate students) seven hours away, never brings many fans. Last year at C of C, they only had one. Tonight, they had three, all related to the basketball players.

Samford didn't even bring its own broadcaster to the game. There was no online feed. This is a rarity in college basketball in 2012. A crowd of maybe 800 or so showed up at McAlister on a Saturday night in a metro of almost 700,000. All were Citadel fans except for the three Samford fans and a referee scouting for the SoCon refs.

This was at halftime. They had a youth game between locals from the James Island Recreation Department. The bleachers where the cadets usually sit were filled by fans supporting these two teams. The game was a good one, with even a three-pointer made by one boy.



All of the promotions involved young kids, since there were no cadets; most were of the routine variety you usually see, like racing to see who gets to the hoop, the competition for a Wendy's gift card, and the race to put everything on your uniform on first.

The game was not that exciting, but something that you could appreciate between two lower-rung SoCon teams. McAlister at certain points was so quiet you could hear the official's calls; the coaches yelling at their players (which the whole gym could hear); and even radio announcer Danny Reed. The Citadel was up 36-29 at halftime, one of the first times that the Dogs had held a lead all season at the half.

Samford kept trying to cut the deficit in the second half, cutting it to eight points late, but could not find a way to win. Players from both teams fought very hard though. Near the end of the game, Samford was desperately trying to find a way to cut the deficit. A Citadel player and a Samford player were battling to get the basketball out of bounds. Here is the outcome:



Several chairs were moved, and this reflected the game. A tough brand of basketball with not many flashy plays, but lots of fundamentals involved. The Citadel won by 11 points, getting a big win in the SoCon that they had to have. They are 1-3 in the league, and are a young team improving.

More people should come out to see the Bulldogs, along with the Southern Conference teams. You can get a ticket for most games for only $10, and see good basketball.

at THE CITADEL 73, SAMFORD 62
01/07/2012

SAMFORD 3-11 (0-3) -- T. Hood 5-9 0-0 10; D. Windler 6-15 2-4 16; W. Cook 5-6 2-4 13; J. Merritt 2-5 0-2 6; R. Kelly 0-7 0-0 0; C. Miller 1-4 0-0 3; K. Johnson 1-6 1-2 4; M. Friday 3-3 0-1 6; B. Hayman 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 25-58 5-13 62.
THE CITADEL 4-11 (1-3) -- A. Moore 4-11 1-2 10; C. Morabbi 6-12 4-7 20; D. Wright 3-5 5-11 12; M. Groselle 10-10 5-7 25; C. Bray 1-5 0-0 2; B. Holston 0-0 0-0 0; M. Harris III 1-1 0-0 2; L. Miller 0-0 0-0 0; J. Robertson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 26-46 15-27 73.

Three-point goals: SAMF 7-29 (K. Johnson 1-6; J. Merritt 2-4; D. Windler 2-8; W. Cook 1-2; T. Hood 0-2; R. Kelly 0-3; C. Miller 1-4), CITA 6-14 (C. Morabbi 4-7; D. Wright 1-1; C. Bray 0-1; A. Moore 1-5); Rebounds: SAMF 36 (W. Cook 7), CITA 27 (C. Bray 8); Assists: SAMF 9 (R. Kelly 4), CITA 21 (D. Wright 8); Total Fouls -- SAMF 21, CITA 16; Fouled Out: SAMF-None; CITA-None.


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