GAME NOTES: Long-time rivals are set to collide tonight in South Carolina, as the Furman Paladins host The Citadel Bulldogs in a Southern Conference matchup at Timmons Arena. The Citadel enters tonight's matchup in the midst of an eight-game slide, most recently falling to UNC Greensboro in a 74-63 final on Saturday. With the loss, the Bulldogs fell to 5-14 on the season, and have yet to taste victory in league action. As for Furman, it has lost two straight and four of its last five overall. The team dropped a hard-fought 62-53 decision at Georgia Southern on Saturday night to fall to a dismal 3-17 on the season and 2-9 in SoCon play. Furman leads the all-time series with Citadel by a 108-78 margin.

The Citadel shot a respectable 46.9 percent from the field during Saturday's 11-point loss to UNCG, but the Bulldogs struggled from the charity stripe (8- of-16) and allowed 23 Spartan points off 20 giveaways. Austin Dahn paced the Bulldogs with 17 points and he also collected seven rebounds, while Cameron Wells netted 13 points to go with six boards and five assists. Jonathan Brick added 11 points off the bench for The Citadel. Wells, responsible for 13.4 ppg, leads the Bulldogs in scoring this year, and is joined in double figures by Demetrius Nelson and Dahn, who net 12.1 and 11.3 ppg, respectively.

The Paladins shot a mere 32.7 percent from the field during Saturday's nine- point loss at GSU, and struggled from long range (7-of-22) as well as at the foul line (.522). Furman was also beaten on the boards, 44-35, and allowed 15 GSU points as the result of 17 costly turnovers. Justin Dehm, Darryl Evans and George Brozos all scored 10 points to lead the Paladins in the losing effort. Furman has struggled from the field this season, shooting just 40.4 percent as a team, including 34.7 percent from long range. The Paladins have also been mediocre at the defensive end, allowing 73.1 ppg while averaging just 30.1 rpg. As a result, the Paladins net just 62.3 ppg, and currently boast only two double-digit scorers. Dehm leads the team with 11.4 ppg, followed by Alex Opacic and his 10.1 ppg.

Neither club has had much to brag about this season, but look for The Citadel to pull off a road upset and earn its first SoCon win. The Paladins play sloppy defense and don't have much going for them on offense, two aspects the Bulldogs should be able to exploit.