Feb. 26, 2009

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Samford University basketball team's road struggles continued at Western Carolina on Thursday as the Bulldogs suffered a 65-58 Southern Conference loss against the Catamounts at the Ramsey Center. Samford committed 22 turnovers and dropped to 3-11 on the road this season.

"Western Carolina did a good job of pressuring the ball and forcing us into some turnovers," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "That's what they do as a team, but I also thought that we were just inadequate in taking care of the ball. We made way too many mistakes and we can't do that and expect to beat any team on the road."

With the loss, Samford (13-15, 8-11 SoCon) ended its chances of earning a first-round bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. Following Appalachian State's 88-82 victory against Chattanooga on Thursday, the Bulldogs concluded the day as the fourth-place team in the North Division.

On Saturday, Samford will close out its regular-season schedule with a key road matchup at Appalachian State. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2:30 p.m. (CST) in Boone, N.C.

The Bulldogs' Josh Bedwell tied a career-high with 24 points in Thursday's loss. Samford's sophomore sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., came off the bench to lead the team in scoring and finished 7-of-12 from the field.

Bedwell turned in a 5-for-8 performance from 3-point range and was an unblemished 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. He is the Bulldogs' top free-throw shooter this season with a stellar 89.1 mark from the line.

Samford's Josh Davis added 16 points Thursday, with all of his points coming in the first half. He finished the game shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Trey Montgomery added 12 points, four rebounds and three steals for the Bulldogs.

With its win Thursday, Western Carolina (15-14, 10-9 SoCon) improved to 10-2 when playing at home this season. The Catamounts own the best home record in the conference and have not been defeated in the Ramsey Center since a 75-66 setback against The Citadel on Feb. 7.

On Saturday, Western Carolina will play for a share of the North Division championship as the Catamounts host the Chattanooga Mocs at 6 p.m. (CST).

Forward Richie Gordon scored a team-high 23 points for Western Carolina. The Catamounts' muscular 6-foot-8 native of Atlanta, Ga., turned in a 9-of-13 performance from the field and a 5-of-7 mark from the free-throw line. Gordon also tallied a game-high nine rebounds and finished just one board shy of a double-double.

Western Carolina's Adrian Gailliard and Brigham Waginger both tallied 10 points apiece.

"It was a tough night for us," Tillette said. "Some of our top scorers didn't score, but I did think that guys like Jim Griffin and Matthew Friday came off the bench to give us some good energy and hustle. Hopefully, we'll be able to bounce back from this to get a win Saturday at Appalachian State."

Samford tallied a 48-percent shooting performance from 3-point range Thursday, but turned the ball over 22 times. It was the Bulldogs' second highest total for turnovers this season, following 24 miscues at Belmont on Nov. 14.

Despite all of its mistakes, Samford held a 57-55 advantage in the game with 4:01 to play following a trio of free throws from Bedwell.

On the play, Bedwell received a pass in the left corner with time running out on the shot clock. He pump-faked, forced the Catamount defender in the air and was subsequently fouled as he jumped into the defender on the shot attempt.

Bedwell buried all three of the free throws to give the Bulldogs a 57-55 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Western Carolina's Brandon Giles knocked down the biggest shot of the game. Samford played stifling defense for 28 seconds of the 30-second shot clock before Giles curled around a screen on the left wing and made his only 3-point basket of the game. He finished with six points on 2-of-6 shooting.

Samford missed its shot attempt on the next time down the floor and the Catamounts answered with a turnaround jumper from Gordon to extend their lead to 60-57 with 1:46 to play.

The Bulldogs' West then answered with a free throw to pull back within 60-58, but it would prove to be their final point of the game.

Western Carolina concluded Thursday's contest with another jumper from Gordon and three-straight free throws to earn its final 65-58 advantage.

"We played poorly in the second half, especially in the beginning of the period," said Tillette. "They opened the second half with an 11-0 run and it was difficult for us to climb back. We finally got back into the game, then we missed two free throws and on the other end we foul them and send them to the line. We fouled them too much. We finished with 20 fouls and that's way to many for us and what we try to do."

With the win, the Catamounts took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series between the teams. Western Carolina is also 2-0 against Samford when playing in Cullowhee, N.C.

Samford shot its way to a 37-33 advantage at halftime. The Bulldogs concluded the opening 20 minutes of play with a 75-percent tally from beyond the arc as they knocked down 9-of-12 attempts from 3-point range.

After making five layups to open the game, Samford's final nine field goals of the first half came from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs' Davis and Bedwell led the way seven-consecutive 3-pointers in the opening period. After Montgomery started the barrage with a pair of deep 3s, Bedwell buried three of the next four for Samford and Davis closed out the first half with three-straight baskets from long range.

Including a long 3-pointer from the left corner as the half-time buzzer sounded, Davis scored 16 points in the opening period. Montgomery followed with 10 points despite getting into some early foul trouble, while Bedwell added nine points, all of which came from beyond the arc.

Western Carolina led 25-19 at the 5:35 mark in the first half. Following an 8-0 run by the Catamounts, Tillette called a 30-second timeout to calm down his Bulldogs.

Samford quickly responded with a 9-4 run and closed out the first period by scoring 18 of the final 26 points of the half.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in their final game of the regular season. Saturday's matchup will be held at the Holmes Center (8,325) in Boone, N.C.