Jan. 22, 2002
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Chris Weaver scored 22 points but his effort wasn't enough as Jacksonville State defeated Samford 59-56 in Atlantic Sun Conference basketball on Tuesday.
Samford (11-8, 8-3 A-Sun) committed 15 turnovers and Jacksonville State (5-9, 4-7 A-Sun) took advantage of them for 15 points to complete its sweep of the Bulldogs, the first for the Gamecocks since 1968 and only the third time in five seasons a Jimmy Tillette teams has been swept in a season. In the two games this season the Gamecocks outscored the Bulldogs 33-14 in points off turnovers.
Samford outscored the Gamecocks 18-9 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, erasing a 24-15 halftime deficit and tying the game at 33-33. JSU responded with a spurt of 7-0 and extended its lead to 12, 51-39, with just over 2:00 remaining. The Bulldogs shot 73 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range to make a run at JSU, and Weaver scored 10 of the Bulldogs' last 17 points, including three free throws with seven seconds remaining to bring the Bulldogs to within a three-pointer, 57-54. JSU knocked down six of eight free throws down the stretch to help seal its fifth victory of the season.
Weaver led all scorers in the game with his second 20+ point effort in three games. Corey Green scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds to join Weaver in double figures.
Emerson Brown led the Gamecocks with a season-high of 15 points, along with Poonie Richardson with 13 and Omar Barlett with 10. Josh Perry grabbed a team- and game-high eight rebounds.
Samford struggled through woeful first half shooting, firing 31 percent from the field and 11 percent from the free throw line. The half was Samford's worst shooting half since Dec. 29, when the Bulldogs shot 30 percent from the field and 9 percent from three-point range. The Gamecocks didn't' fare much better, shooting 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from the arc, but took advantage of Bulldog turnovers to outscore Samford 8-1 in points off turnovers.
Samford's 13 first-half points were the worst total in a half in five seasons under Tillette. Samford's previous low was 17 points in the first half against Eastern Washington on Dec. 29th.
