Nov. 26, 2001

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. - The Samford Bulldogs saw a shot at beating an SEC team on its home floor for the second time in three years slip away at Stegeman Coliseum Monday night as Georgia shot 87 percent from the free throw line and made 13 more free throws than Samford in a 61-55 Georgia victory.

With three minutes remaining in the game, Samford fans had visions of an upset of another SEC team dancing in their heads as Samford and Georgia were tied at 52 but then Georgia's Tony Cole scored six straight points and Georgia went on a 9-0 run to break Samford's heart.

With the game tied at 52, Samford had two chances to take the lead. Eddie Harper missed the front end of a one and one but Samford came down with the rebound only to miss a lay up. Cole then came down with the rebound and was fouled. Cole made both free-throws as Georgia went 20-23 from the free-throw line in the game. On Samford's next possession, Cole made a steal and raced down for a lay-up, which was blocked off the backboard by Corey Green. Green was called for goal-tending and UGA had a four-point lead. The host Bulldogs would continue their pressure defense and take a 61-52 lead before Harper hit a three-pointer with four seconds left to bring the final margin to six points.

Georgia (4-0) placed four players in double-figures led by Jonas Hayes who scored 14 points and was 4-4 from the free-throw line. Cole finished with 11 points and Ezra Williams and Steve Thomas each had 10 points. Georgia led by as many as 11 points at the 9:33 point of the first half.

Samford (2-2) placed three players in double-figures. Cornell Felton led the visiting Bulldogs with 15 points, 12 in the first half. Harper had 14 points and Chris Weaver added 13 points. Felton and Harper led the first half comeback as Harper came off the bench and scored eight straight points to get the Bulldogs close. Samford pulled to 27-26 after a Phillip Ramelli dunk with 3:10 to play in the first period. Samford would go into the locker room trailing 33-31.

Samford tied the game three times in the second half but was never able to take a lead. Free throw shooting down the stretch really hurt the visiting Bulldogs. Samford was 5-10 from the line in the second half while Georgia was 14-17 from the charity stripe.

"It was very frustrating," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "This is a night that Georgia did not play as well as they're capable and if we had played better we could have won. We made so many mental mistakes. That is disappointing because we pride ourselves on being a smart basketball team."

Samford will continue on its four-game road trip as it begins Atlantic Sun play at Mercer on Thursday. Game time is 6:30 p.m. in Macon.