March 7, 2009

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Samford basketball team will continue its quest for the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament championship Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (CST), as the Bulldogs square off against The Citadel Bulldogs in the second round of the four-day, 12-team competition being held at McKenzie Arena in downtown Chattanooga, Tenn.

Fans unable to attend the matchup in person can listen live to Samford's broadcast on WVSU 91.1 FM or via the Internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu.

Samford (15-15) heads into Saturday's showdown with aspirations of extending its current two-game winning streak. The Bulldogs defeated the Appalachian State Mountaineers 72-63 in their final contest of the regular season before holding off Furman 57-52 in Friday's opening-round contest of the SoCon Tournament.

In Samford's hard-fought win over Furman, junior forward Bryan Friday scored a game-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. In three games against Furman this season, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-6 junior from Grapevine, Texas, averaged 19.3 points per contest.

Friday also finished the game with a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of 3-point baskets.

Samford's Andy King and Trey Montgomery both added 10 points apiece Friday. King scored all 10 of his points in the opening half and also tallied four rebounds and three assists.

Montgomery, the Bulldogs' junior point guard from Destrehan, La., finished with six rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes of game time.

The Citadel (20-11) enters Saturday's matchup as arguably the hottest team in the conference. The Bulldogs have won 12 of their last 13 games and recently finished the regular-season schedule as the second-place team in the SoCon's talent-laden South Division.

The Citadel's last defeat was a 62-55 setback against Wofford on Feb. 28. Prior to the loss, the Bulldogs rattled off 11-consecutive victories, including a convincing 64-46 win at Davidson on Feb. 18.

The Citadel heads into the game boasting the conference's Coach of the Year, Ed Conroy, and a pair of players who recently earned all-conference honors. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs' center Demetrius Nelson was named to the SoCon First Team, while sophomore Cameron Wells received Second-Team SoCon honors.

Nelson, The Citadel's redshirt senior from John's Island, S.C., is currently pacing the team with 16.1 points per game.

The Bulldogs will play against The Citadel for only the fourth time in school history Saturday.

Prior to this season, the teams were knotted at 1-1 in the all-time series. The Citadel won the opener in 1992, 73-67, while Samford earned a similar 73-67 victory in 1993. Earlier this year, The Citadel handed Samford a 70-45 loss in Birmingham, Ala.

The 25-point defeat proved to be Samford's worst setback in Pete Hanna Center history.

The Citadel ended the game with a 20-3 run as the Bulldogs limited Samford to three points in the final 8:30 of the contest; a free throw from Jim Griffin with 46 seconds left and a pair of free throws from Gaby Bermudez with 29 seconds remaining.

The Citadel's Wells proved to be the game's outstanding player as he finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. The Bulldogs' Zach Urbanus followed with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while Nelson and Austin Dahn added 13 and 12, respectively.

Samford's leading scorer was King, who finished with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 sophomore from Omaha, Neb., also knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and tallied two assists. Friday followed with 10 points and four rebounds, but was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Samford has made at least one 3-point field goal in 531-consecutive games. The last time that the Bulldogs did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against Texas-San Antonio.

Samford's 2008-09 roster only includes one senior and five upperclassmen. Curtis West is the Bulldogs' lone senior, while Peter Carroll, Bryan Friday, Griffin and Montgomery are the only juniors on the squad.

Samford boasts eight underclassmen on its roster, including sophomore starters Josh Davis and King. Fellow-sophomores Josh Bedwell and Bermudez, as well as true freshman Jeffrey Merritt have also proved to be key players for Samford off the bench this season.

The winner of Saturday night's matchup between Samford and The Citadel will advance to the semifinal round of competition where it will face either Elon or Chattanooga on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. (CDT).

Samford Basketball Game Notes
SoCon Tournament Information
Live Stats