Feb. 28, 2009
Box Score
BOONE, N.C. -
In its final game of the 2008-09 regular season, the Samford basketball team exploded for a critical 72-63 road victory against the Appalachian State Mountaineers Saturday in the Holmes Center. The Bulldogs used a 21-2 run midway through the second half to finish in third place in the Southern Conference's North Division.
With the victory, Samford (14-15, 9-11 SoCon) swept its season series against Appalachian State (12-17, 9-11 SoCon) and closed out its inaugural campaign in the SoCon as the third-place team in the North Division.
"We knew what the stakes were heading into this game and we knew its importance," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We knew that if we won the game we would be the No. 3 seed in the tournament, and No. 3 is better than No. 4. We didn't necessarily emphasize that in the locker room, but we emphasized getting better and ending this road trip on a positive note."
On Friday, the Bulldogs will begin play in the 2009 SoCon Tournament at 8:30 p.m. (CST) against the Furman Paladins. The first-round matchup will be held at The McKenzie Center in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Furman currently owns a 4-15 conference record and will close out its regular season Monday at Wofford.
Samford and Furman split its home-and-home series this season. The Bulldogs played to a 71-60 victory at home in the Pete Hanna Center, but dropped a 63-57 decision on the road in Greenville, S.C.
Samford's Andy King tied a career-high with 20 points Saturday as he finished 6-of-9 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 center from Omaha, Neb., also turned in a near-perfect 4-for-5 outing from the free-throw line.
Additionally, King grabbed three rebounds and a trio of steals in 32 minutes of play.
Junior Trey Montgomery, who scored a career-high 25 points in the Bulldogs' first meeting against the Mountaineers, added 17 on Saturday. Samford's 6-foot-4 point guard from Destrehan, La., also tallied five assists, four steals, three rebounds and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The Bulldogs' bench outscored the Mountaineers' reserves 21-17 on Saturday.
Samford's Josh Bedwell came off the bench to score 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, while Matthew Friday added five.
Appalachian State's leading scorer was guard Kellen Brand. He tallied a team-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, but only scored seven in the second half of play. The Mountaineers' Josh Hunter and Donald Sims both finished with 10 points apiece.
"We were able to play good defense on Sims and we tried to be at his feet whenever he caught the ball," Tillette said. "We tried to force him to dribble into his shot and by doing that it helped us to limit his scoring chances. Brand had four 3s in the first half, but we held him to only one in the second half. We had the same strategy for him as well."
With 13:01 left to play in Saturday's SoCon North Division showdown, Appalachian State held a 44-36 lead.
The Bulldogs then used a barrage of 3-point baskets, back-door cuts and full-court steals to streak to a 57-46 advantage in the contest. During its game-changing 21-2 run, Samford received seven points from Montgomery, as well as deep 3-point baskets from King, Josh Davis and Bedwell.
Bedwell's 3-point basket at the 5:42 mark in the second half capped the Bulldogs' run.
With the shot clock running down in Samford's possession, Bedwell curled around a screen on the left flank and fired a long-range 3-pointer. The ball swished through the cylinder and Appalachian State immediately called a 30-second timeout.
"That run really helped us take over the game," said Tillette. "In the last three games that we've lost, we've been either tied or in the lead with four minutes to play, and tonight it was about a seven-point lead, so that was good for us, especially because we were a bit fatigued. We had a lot of people come off the bench to give us good minutes and that was the difference."
Following a layup from Hunter and a pair of free throws from Donald Sims, the Mountaineers trimmed the Bulldogs advantage to 59-52 with 3:36 to play.
Samford's Montgomery then picked up two-straight steals that resulted in fast-break layups for the Bulldogs. On his first steal, he drove down for a thunderous two-handed dunk, while he fed the ball up to Bedwell for an easy layup on the second theft.
"We were able to make the run in the second half because we slowed things up in our offense and we took better shots," said Tillette. "I also say that we need to slow down, shoot less and score more, and that's what we were able to do in the second half. We started hitting some 3s, then they extended their defense some more and we were able to hit them with some back-cuts."
Appalachian State would never get any closer than nine points for the remainder of the game.
Aside from the Mountaineers' 70-52 loss to the first-place Davidson Wildcats on Jan. 12, Samford has handed Appalachian State its second-and-third worst losses of the 2008-09 campaign. On Jan. 17, the Bulldogs handed the Mountaineers a 68-56 loss in Birmingham, Ala.
At the intermission, Appalachian State held a 32-27 advantage behind a 14-point first-half from Brand.
The Mountaineers' junior from High Point, N.C., turned in a 4-for-6 performance from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, with all four of his baskets coming from beyond the arc.
Midway through the first half, Samford used five-straight points from Bedwell and a 3-point play from Matthew Friday to string together a 12-5 run. With the stretch, the Bulldogs earned a 20-17 lead with 7:52 remaining in the period.
After Samford's run, Appalachian State's Brand used two more of his 3-pointers to help the Mountaineers build their 32-27 halftime advantage.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 8:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Furman Paladins in the opening round of the 2009 SoCon Tournament.
The 12-team postseason event will be held at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena located in downtown Chattanooga, Tenn.
