Dec. 3, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - With its best defensive performance of the young 2009-10 season, the Samford University basketball team opened Southern Conference play with a decisive 55-31 victory against the Elon Phoenix at home in the Pete Hanna Center. Elon's 31 points marked its lowest scoring total since a 25-23 loss to North Carolina A&T during the 1970-71 season.

"I was proud of how our guys played tonight," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "I thought we played with intensity and we played with grit. I know that Elon went through a cold spell there in the second half, but a lot of that can be attributed to how hard we were playing. We were finally able to play well for two halves, but we still have a long way to go this season."

Samford (2-5, 1-0 SoCon) recorded its best defensive performance since a 73-30 win against Brewton-Parker on Nov. 24, 2007. The Bulldogs are well on pace to lead the SoCon in scoring defense for a second-straight season. Last year, Samford was ranked first in the conference by only allowing an average of 62.2 points per game.

Junior sharpshooter Josh Davis paced the Bulldogs with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Samford's native of Lubbock, Texas, was coming off a career-high 26-point performance against Texas Tech on Saturday and continued his hot hand Thursday. Davis knocked down his first four shots of the game from beyond the arc.

Senior forward Bryan Friday followed with 11 points, five rebounds and a steal, while sophomore guard John Peterson added eight points on 3-of-4 shooting. Peterson also grabbed a pair of rebounds and blocked a shot.

"I was really impressed with how John Peterson played," Tillette said. "He's getting better and better and he's doing a great job of working hard and improving in practice. He had eight points tonight in only 13 minutes of playing time and he did a great job of working free for some back-door cuts and for some wide-open looks at the basket."

Elon (2-6, 0-1 SoCon) lost its fourth-straight game Thursday and didn't finish with a player scoring in double figures. The Phoenix was led by sophomore guard Josh Bonney with eight points, but he was 4-of-18 from the field and 0-for-10 from 3-point range.

As a team, Elon shot 26 percent from the floor and 12 percent from beyond the arc. In the second half of play, the Phoenix turned in a 1-for-16 performance from 3-point range.

"I'm glad we were able to defend a little better around the arc," said Tillette. "I thought that our guys did a great job of getting at their feet and we were making their looks tougher. We also did a better job of rebounding the ball and we only allowed five second-chance points."

Samford out-rebounded Elon 32-30 and finished with nine players grabbing at least two rebounds. Friday, Jeffrey Merritt and Trey Montgomery all led the way with five boards.

The Bulldogs quickly streaked out to an early 13-4 lead in the game behind the scoring of Friday, Montgomery and Merritt. Merritt scored five of Samford's first 13 points, while Friday tallied the Bulldogs' opening two buckets of the game.

Samford, despite a mini-drought of three minutes to end the first half, cruised to a 28-14 lead at the intermission. Friday led all scorers with nine points in the opening period.

Right out of the gate in the second half, Davis knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 39-16 advantage with 14:50 left to play. Samford continued to knock down shots midway through the final period and led 50-19 with 6:25 remaining.

The Bulldogs' bench outscored Elon's bench by a total of 17-11. Peterson registered his career-high of eight, while Kaylin Johnson added four, Gregg Wooten tallied three and Matthew Friday finished with two points, three rebounds and a trio of assists.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m., as the Bulldogs continue their opening SoCon homestand of the 2009-10 season with a matchup against the UNC Greensboro Spartans.