Samford University
Shorter College
Stellar Second Half Propels 'Dogs To 61-39 Win Against Shorter
12.19.09 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team turned in one of its best second-half performances of the 2009-10 season Saturday as the Bulldogs streaked to a 61-39 victory against the Shorter College Hawks at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford (4-7) shot 54.2 percent in the second half and outscored Shorter College 34-21.
"This was a good win for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Shorter is a very good team, especially for their level, and there's no question about it. They have some really talented players and they are very well-coached. It was a close game for a good portion of the first half, but then we just played very well in the second half."
Samford improved to 4-1 at home this season and finished with three players scoring in double figures. Junior Josh Davis paced the Bulldogs for a second straight game with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. All five of his field goals came from 3-point range as he also added a pair of free throws.
Along with Davis, sophomore John Peterson was the only other Samford player to connect on a 3-point field goal Saturday. Peterson proved to be 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and finished the game with career-highs in points (12), field goals (4), 3-point field goals (3), rebounds (3), steals (1) and minutes (22).
"John has gotten so much better in practice and he's done a great job on both ends of the floor," Tillette said. "I'm really pleased with his progress. He works hard every day in practice and he's gotten a lot better. He's athletic, he can shoot the ball and he has a scorer's mentality. I think his better days are definitely ahead of him as long as he keeps working."
Samford's Trey Montgomery also turned in a solid all-around performance Saturday. The Bulldogs' senior point guard from Destrehan, La., finished with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists in only 27 minutes of play. Montgomery was 4-of-7 from the field and knocked down all three of his free-throw attempts.
Shorter College (10-1) entered the game as the No. 21 team in the national NAIA rankings. The Hawks' 39 points Saturday was their lowest scoring output of the 2009-10 season. Shorter College has averaged 81 points per game this year and its previous low was 68 against Georgia State in a hard-fought 72-68 loss on Nov. 3.
The Hawks' were paced by Montagious Brown's 12 points Saturday. The 6-foot-4 junior was the only Shorter College player to score in double figures as he finished 6-of-12 from the field. Marqise Wright grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Hawks, but recorded a 1-for-10 performance from the field.
Senior guard Jerrenda Wheeler came into the game averaging a team-high 14.8 points per contest, but was limited to two points on 1-for-8 shooting.
As a team, Shorter College only shot 29.1 percent from the field and 14.3 percent (3-for-21) from beyond the arc. Samford tallied a 46.8 percent mark from the floor and was 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs' Davis made five 3-point baskets alone Saturday, while Shorter College finished with three as a team.
"Josh Davis is a really good shooter and today he shot it well," said Tillette. "I thought that it was also good to get Josh Bedwell back to help him around the perimeter some. I was pleased in that we had 22 field goals today and 19 assists. Shorter is a very good team and our game plan was to slow the pace of the game because they are averaging 81 points per game."
Junior Josh Bedwell, Samford's talented guard from Hartselle, Ala., returned to action for the first time in eight games Saturday after sustaining an injury against UAB in the Bulldogs' third contest of the season. Bedwell played six minutes against Shorter College and tallied an assist.
The Hawks hung tough against the Bulldogs in the first half and Samford only held a 19-16 lead at the 4:07 mark in the period. The Bulldogs then used a layup from Montgomery, a back-door basket from Matthew Friday and a jumper from Bryan Friday to take a 27-18 advantage into halftime.
In the second half, Samford quickly extended its lead to 36-23 and held a comfortable advantage until the 10:34 mark when Shorter College's Corey Edmondson drained a jumper to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 42-34. Samford then took a quick 30-second timeout and Montgomery responded on the next possession with a thunderous two-handed dunk from the baseline.
Montgomery's dunk immediately shifted the momentum to the Bulldogs as they went on to close out the contest with a 17-4 run. During the stretch, Davis knocked down back-to-back 3-point shots and Bryan Friday added a pair of key buckets in the paint.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Eastern Michigan Eagles in Ypsilanti, Mich. Samford's next home game will be at 7 p.m. (CST) on Dec. 28, against Chicago State. Admission is FREE for the Bulldogs' game on Dec. 28.
