Dec. 6, 2008

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Samford University basketball team opened its 2008-09 Southern Conference schedule with a hard-fought 66-59 road loss to the Georgia Southern Eagles on Saturday. In the defeat, the Bulldogs went 0-for-8 from the free-throw line in the second half of play at the Hanner Fieldhouse.

"We can't miss eight-consecutive free throws down the stretch and expect to win the game," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "That's inexcusable, and it's something that we need to correct. We jumped out to the early lead in the first half and I thought that our guys relaxed a bit. We can't do that. These games are 40 minutes long, not 20."

In Saturday's conference-opening defeat, Samford (3-3, 0-1 SoCon) led by as many as eight points, 48-40, with 11:37 remaining in the game. Georgia Southern (3-3, 1-0 SoCon) then exploded for a 16-2 run and earned a 58-50 lead at the 3:36 mark. The Eagles late comeback was sparked by seven points from junior guard Julian Allen.

Allen, Georgia Southern's 6-foot-4 native of Waterbury, Conn., paced his team with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. The Eagles' Antoine Johnson followed with 10 points and was 5-of-7 from the floor.

Samford was led in scoring by both Trey Montgomery and Bryan Friday. The Bulldogs' juniors each finished with 16 points apiece and knocked down seven baskets. Montgomery was 7-for-14 from the field, while Friday was 7-for-12. For the fourth-straight game, Montgomery led the team in rebounding with seven.

"I thought that tonight's game was an improvement from last week, but it's just not good enough," Tillette said. "We had a few guys play well and I liked our effort in the first half. We just needed to do a much better job on all facets of the game down the stretch."

In the second half of play, Samford was 0-for-8 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs finished the game with a 1-for-9 mark from the charity stripe, which was a season-low 11.1 percent.

Samford outshot Georgia Southern from the field, 47.2 percent to 43.3 percent, but was out-rebounded 37-33.

"We gave them too many second chances, especially in the second half," said Tillette. "They out-rebounded us late in the game and that really hurt us. With their rebounds and our missed free throws, it was a recipe for disaster."

After Georgia Southern took its 58-50 lead with 3:36 to play, Samford received back-to-back layups from Andy King and Montgomery to trim the Eagles' advantage to 58-54. Then, from the 2:53 mark until the end of the game, the Bulldogs missed six-straight free throws, including two front-ends of 1-and-1s.

"If we make those free throws, it's a different ballgame," Tillette said. "I don't know what the problem was, but we need to get it corrected and get ready for our next game. We play at Saint Louis on Saturday and that's going to be another tough test for us."

Behind a stellar first half of play from Montgomery, Samford took a 34-28 advantage into the intermission. Montgomery, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 floor general from Destrehan, La., finished 5-for-9 from the field in the opening period and scored a game-high 12 points.

Bryan Friday turned in a seven-point first-half performance as Samford's 6-foot-6 forward scored all seven of his points in the first four minutes of play. Following Friday's seven-consecutive Bulldog points, Samford jumped out to a quick 9-8 advantage with 15:58 remaining in the period.

Later in the first half, the Bulldogs' Josh Bedwell connected on a deep fadeaway 3-pointer to beat an expiring shot clock to give Samford a 17-11 advantage.

Bedwell finished Saturday's game with nine points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' 6-foot sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., was also 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Midway through the first half, Georgia Southern used six-straight points from Johnson to rally for a 9-0 run to tie the game at 20-20. Down the stretch, Samford closed out the half with a key 12-2 streak to earn its six-point halftime lead.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday, Dec. 13, as the Bulldogs return to their non-conference slate of games against the Saint Louis Billikens at 4 p.m., in St. Louis, Mo. The matchup will be held at the Billikens' Chaifetz Arena.