Feb. 9, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford basketball team never trailed the Chattanooga Mocs until 3:05 remaining in the second half Monday as the Bulldogs' Southern Conference foes rallied to score 15 of the game's final 17 points. With a late 15-2 run in the Pete Hanna Center, Chattanooga earned a 66-56 come-from-behind victory.

"We just went through a stretch where it seemed we couldn't hit any of our shots," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We had some good looks late in the game, but they just didn't fall. We were also terrible from the free-throw line. We finished 5-of-12 from the line and we're not going to win many games if we shoot like that."

With Monday's setback, Samford (11-13, 6-9 SoCon) dropped its fourth-consecutive game and fell to 8-4 when playing in the Pete Hanna Center this season. The Bulldogs will remain at home this week and are scheduled to continue their three-game homestand Thursday at 7 p.m., against UNC Greensboro.

Chattanooga (12-13, 8-6 SoCon) rebounded from its disappointing loss at Furman on Saturday and improved to 5-8 on the road this season. The Mocs also extended their winning streak against the Bulldogs to eight-straight games.

"Chattanooga is a very good team, but we led the game nearly the entire time and we had chances to put them away," Tillette said. "Rebounding was again a key factor in tonight's game and I thought that we went to the glass hard, we just weren't able to get the rebounds. I think that really says a lot about Chattanooga's athleticism."

The Mocs' Nicchaeus Doaks recorded his ninth double-double of the season and finished with game-highs in both points (23) and rebounds (12). Chattanooga's athletic 6-foot-7 forward shot 8-of-14 from the field and was 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Doaks also tallied four offensive rebounds, three blocks and a pair of steals.

Samford's top player was sophomore guard Josh Davis. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Lubbock, Texas, scored a season-high 21 points and knocked down a career-high seven 3-pointers. All of his team-high 21 points came from beyond the arc.

"We were able to get some big shots early, but at the end they just didn't seem to bounce our way," said Davis. "In the first half, we were also able to get a lot of good hustle plays, but in the second half it just didn't seem as if we were getting on the floor quick enough. They came up with more down the stretch and it ended up being the difference."

After leading by as many as eight points in the first half and 33-27 at the intermission, Samford found itself tied with Chattanooga 54-54 with 4:56 remaining.

The Mocs fought back from a six-point second-half deficit and evened the score following a pair of free throws and a put-back from Doaks. Chattanooga's big man then scored on another layup in the lane to give the Mocs their first lead at 3:05 in the second half, 56-54.

Samford then used an Andy King free throw to trim Chattanooga's advantage to 56-55, but the Mocs then scored the next six points to take a commanding 62-55 lead with 45 seconds left.

The key play during Chattanooga's 6-0 run was a second-chance 3-pointer from Kevin Goffney that was only made possible by a Doaks offensive rebound. With the Mocs up by four, 59-55, with 58 seconds to play, Doaks was blocked by King on a left-handed layup, but was able to corral the ball before going out of bounds.

On his way over the baseline, Doaks called a 30-second timeout to save the possession for Chattanooga. Goffney then hit the game-clinching 3-point basket from the left flank on the ensuing possession.

"They were able to get a lot of second shots late in the game and that really hurt us," Davis said. "Their big guys were able to get a lot of put-backs and we also helped them out with a lot of stupid fouls. We shot ourselves in the foot late in the game and they were able to capitalize on our mistakes."

Samford only shot 39.2 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished the game with 11 3-point field goals, seven of which were knocked down by Davis. King added three more deep baskets, while Bryan Friday tallied the 11th.

King completed the matchup with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Friday added nine points, two rebounds and a pair of assists.

"This was the third game in a row that we didn't shoot the ball over 50 percent in the second half," said Tillette. "I think that once we get Matthew (Friday) back, it will really help us out with some depth at the P position, because I think that some of our bigger guys are getting tired late in games. He will also help us with rebounding the basketball and that's something we need as well."

Chattanooga entered Monday's matchup as the top rebounding team in the conference at 40.5 boards per game. The Mocs finished the contest with 41 rebounds and limited the Bulldogs to 22.

Goffney pulled down 10 boards and tallied five points for Chattanooga, while Khalil Hartwell added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Stephen McDowell finished with 13 points and a trio of 3-point baskets.

"This was a tough loss for us tonight, but there's still a long way to go this season," Tillette said. "We still have two games left in this homestand and then we close out the year with three really big games on the road. We just need to continue to get better and improve each day and we'll see how it goes from there."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m., as the Bulldogs continue their current three-game homestand with a SoCon matchup against the UNC Greensboro Spartans. Thursday's contest will also be held at the Pete Hanna Center.