Feb. 7, 2009

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Samford University basketball team fell behind early against the Wofford Terriers Saturday and couldn't overcome a 16-point first-half deficit en route to a 74-61 Southern Conference road loss held at Benjamin Johnson Arena.

With the setback, Samford (11-12, 6-8 SoCon) suffered its third-straight defeat and dropped to 3-9 when playing away from home this season. Wofford (10-11, 6-6 SoCon) snapped its two-game losing streak and improved to 5-3 when playing in Johnson Arena.

The Terriers finished the game with only three players scoring in double figures, but Wofford's bench outscored Samford's bench 20-2. Sophomore forward Noah Dahlman started for the first time all season Saturday and paced the Terriers with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.

Wofford's Tim Johnson and Junior Salters both followed with 13 points apiece.

Johnson proved to be a presence on the boards for the Terriers and tallied a double-double by adding a game-high 12 rebounds. Salters, who didn't play in the first meeting between the teams, was 3-for-5 from 3-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Samford concluded Saturday's game with four players scoring in double figures.

The Bulldogs' Andy King led the team with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, while Josh Davis added 14 points. King exploded for 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half of play. Samford's 6-foot-8 sophomore center drained four 3-pointers, a layup and a pair of free throws in the final 20 minutes of action.

After Davis' 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, the Bulldogs' Bryan Friday followed with 13 points and Trey Montgomery added 11. King also pulled down a team-high six rebounds, while Montgomery tallied a game-high seven assists.

For the second-straight game, Samford was handily out-rebounded. Wofford turned in a 37-22 advantage on the boards and finished the contest with 14 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.

Samford will look to end its three-game slide Monday at home against Chattanooga. The Mocs lost at Furman on Saturday and will face off against the Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m., in the Pete Hanna Center.

After trailing by 16 points in the first half, and by nine at halftime 35-26, Samford used King's hot hand early in the second period to trim Wofford's lead to 48-45 with 13:05 left to play. King scored 14 of the Bulldogs' first 19 points in the second half and almost single-handedly led Samford back in the game.

King made his first five baskets of the second period, including his first four 3-point attempts.

Samford continued to fight tooth and nail with Wofford midway through the second half and only trailed by five, 54-49, with 9:34 to play. Following layups from Curtis West and Friday, the Terriers' Dalhman scored on a put-back in the lane to begin a hard-fought 14-7 run for Wofford.

During the stretch, Johnson connected on a pair of layups for the Terriers as they also turned in a 4-for-4 mark from the free-throw line to hold a 70-56 advantage with 1:23 left.

Wofford's Salters then knocked down four-consecutive free throws and Terry Martin scored on a breakaway dunk to salt the game away for a final 74-61 decision.

Neither team turned in a stellar performance from the charity stripe, but the Terriers connected on 14 of their 23 attempts for a 60.9 percentage. Samford was only able to get to the line 10 times and knocked down five of them.

The Bulldogs' Jim Griffin came off the bench to score two points; Samford's lone production from its non-starters.

Wofford's Kevin Giltner and Martin combined to score 15 of the Terrier's game-high 20 bench points.

At halftime, Wofford held a 35-26 advantage. The Terriers shot 53.8 percent from beyond the arc in the opening period and knocked down 7-of-13 attempts from 3-point range. Salters paced Wofford with nine first-half points, all of which came from beyond the arc.

Samford only shot 33.3 percent from 3-point range in the first half, but rallied late in the period to trim Wofford's lead to 35-26. The Bulldogs' leading scorer at halftime was Davis with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Midway through the first half, Giltner came off the bench to lead the Terriers on a 23-7 run to take a 25-12 advantage with 7:52 remaining. During the stretch, Giltner scored five-straight points and Salters knocked down his second 3-pointer of the first half.

Samford scored the final four points of the opening period as Davis drove to the goal for a layup and Montgomery scored on a turnaround jumper in the lane. At one point in the first half, the Bulldogs' Davis registered seven-straight points for Samford.

The Samford basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7:30 p.m., as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center to host the Chattanooga Mocs in the second game of a Samford Basketball doubleheader. At 5:30 p.m., the Bulldogs' women's basketball team will host the Georgia Southern Eagles in a key SoCon matchup.