Jan. 26, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In its third Southern Conference matchup in five days, the Samford University basketball team had its four-game winning streak snapped Monday as the Bulldogs dropped a 70-45 decision against The Citadel Bulldogs in the Pete Hanna Center.

"It seemed as if our guys didn't know how to handle success," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We were erratic on both ends of the floor and we were way too out of character on offense. I think that we thought we were going to play hard and then good things were just going to happen for us. I don't think that we were able to handle the buzz on campus and the fact that we had won four-straight games."

With the loss, Samford (10-9, 5-5 SoCon) dropped its first conference matchup since an 81-74 defeat against College of Charleston exactly two weeks ago.

Monday's setback was only the Bulldogs' second home loss of the 2008-09 season. Samford owns a 7-2 record in the Pete Hanna Center and will continue its three-game homestand Thursday at 7 p.m., against Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs will then host Davidson at 2 p.m., Saturday in a televised matchup to be broadcast live on SportSouth.

"This was a lost opportunity," Tillette said. "We didn't play well at all and it was actually one of our worst outputs of the year. Right now, we just need to rebound from this and get ready for Georgia Southern. I know everybody's been talking about Davidson all week, but it doesn't matter if you don't take care of business in your other games."

After turning in one of its best 3-point shooting performances of the season Saturday in a 76-61 victory at UNC Greensboro, Samford followed it up with one of its worst outings from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished 6-of-32 from 3-point range Monday for an 18.8 percentage, their third worst of the 2008-09 campaign.

The Citadel (11-10, 6-4 SoCon), which entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the conference, extended its winning streak to three straight. The Bulldogs improved to 4-5 on the road this season and handed Samford its worst loss ever in the Pete Hanna Center.

"We couldn't do anything tonight," said Tillette. "We were too frenetic on offense and defensively we seemed to always be in the wrong spots. I sensed that while we had open shots tonight, we were shooting in a frenzy. Our players were just catching the ball and shooting, instead of getting in rhythm and shooting with some touch."

With 8:30 remaining in the second half, Samford's Andy King scored on a turnaround jumper in the lane to trim The Citadel's lead to 50-42. Since that point, The Citadel played stifling defense and held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the rest of the night.

During its 20-3 game-ending run, The Citadel limited Samford to three points; a free throw from Jim Griffin with 46 seconds left and a pair of free throws from Gaby Bermudez with 29 seconds remaining.

The Citadel's Cameron Wells proved to be the game's outstanding player as he finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. The Bulldogs' Zach Urbanus followed with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while Demetrius Nelson and Austin Dahn added 13 and 12, respectively.

Samford's leading scorer was King, who finished with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 sophomore from Omaha, Neb., also knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and tallied two assists. Bryan Friday followed with 10 points and four rebounds, but was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Junior Trey Montgomery was limited to two points on a 1-for-3 outing from the field, but finished with four rebounds and four assists.

The Citadel's John Brown helped the Bulldogs to a 36-26 advantage in rebounds as he pulled down a game-high 12 boards in only 15 minutes of action due to some early foul trouble.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m., as the Bulldogs continue their three-game SoCon homestand with a return matchup against the Georgia Southern Eagles. Earlier this season, Samford dropped a 66-59 decision at Georgia Southern.