Jan. 21, 2010
Box Score
ELON, N.C. -
Samford's Kaylin Johnson drained a deep 3-point basket from the left flank with 15.1 seconds remaining Thursday to carry the Bulldogs' basketball team to a hard-fought 50-49 Southern Conference victory against the Elon Phoenix. Johnson, Samford's sophomore guard from Baton Rouge, La., came off the bench to tally a career-high nine points, including the game-winning bucket.
All nine of Johnson's points were scored in the second half and came from beyond the arc. His previous career-high of six points was achieved at Alabama on Dec. 16.
"This was a huge win for us and Kaylin did an unbelievable job down the stretch," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "He hit three key 3-pointers in the second half and I also thought he gave us a bit of a spark defensively. I was disappointed in how our team played to start the game, but they showed a lot of resiliency in being able to come down from a five-point deficit with about a minute to play."
Samford (8-10, 2-4 SoCon) scored the final six points Thursday to earn its thrilling come-from-behind victory. With only 1:48 left to play, Elon's Terrance Birdette knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Phoenix its biggest lead of the game 49-44.
Then, following a 30-second timeout from the Bulldogs, senior Trey Montgomery connected on a critical 3-point bucket from the top of the key to trim Elon's lead to 49-47 with 1:25 remaining. Montgomery, the Bulldogs' senior point guard from Destrehan, La., finished with nine points, all of which were scored in the second half of play.
"Trey's 3-pointer was just as big as Kaylin's," Tillette said. "That shot really shifted the momentum in the game and was what allowed us to be in a position to win late. I thought that Trey played a lot better in the second half and he was able to get some better scoring looks against them down the stretch."
Following Montgomery's game-saving 3-pointer, both Elon (3-15, 1-6 SoCon) and Samford traded turnovers which led to the Phoenix's possession with 34 seconds to play. The score of the game was 49-47 when Elon's Chris Long drove through the lane from left to right and tried to pick up his dribble for a pass to the right corner. Instead, Long bobbled the ball and dragged his pivot foot for his third turnover of the game.
Samford then called its final timeout with 30 seconds remaining and the ball.
On their game-winning possession, the Bulldogs worked through their offensive sets a few times before Johnson came off a double screen on the left flank. On the play, he grabbed a hand-off pass from Andy King and calmly knocked down the 3-pointer from 21 feet away. Johnson finished 3-for-5 from the field with all of his attempts coming from beyond the arc.
Earlier in the second half, Johnson knocked down an even deeper 3-point bucket with the shot clock expiring. The NBA-range field goal was his second 3-pointer of the half.
"Kaylin's a good shooter, but on that shot with the shot clock about to expire, they just didn't guard him," Tillette said. "They were in their 1-3-1 zone and that's the shot we want to get, just not from that deep. I think they didn't think he would shoot it from that far way, but everybody's a threat when the shot clock is running down because there's no pressure. Kaylin's a good shooter and he was able to hit it."
King led Samford in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' junior center knocked down four key 3-point baskets and also pulled down a trio of rebounds. Sophomore John Peterson also turned in a solid game as he came off the bench to score seven points in 15 minutes of action.
"We showed some good toughness tonight," said Tillette. "Elon will learn how to finish games better. They're well-coached and their kids are getting better. They're working hard and I can definitely see the improvement from when we played them earlier this year."
With Thursday's tough loss, Elon had its losing streak extended to nine games. The Phoenix's last victory occurred on Dec. 5 as it posted an 82-63 win at Chattanooga. Elon and Chattanooga will square off again Saturday here in Elon, N.C.
Samford snapped its four-game SoCon losing streak and remained undefeated against Elon. The Bulldogs are 4-0 versus the Phoenix and will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) against UNC Greensboro. Earlier this year, Samford was embarrassed at home by UNC Greensboro, 73-40, in what was the Bulldogs' worst defeat in Pete Hanna Center history.
Samford played stifling defense in the first half of Thursday's game and took a 23-16 lead into the intermission. The Bulldogs limited Elon to 22.7-percent shooting from the field and an 18.2-percent performance from 3-point range.
The Phoenix was also held without a field goal for an 11:37 period in the first half. After Elon's TJ Douglas knocked down a 3-pointer from the left flank at the 17:10 mark, Elon did not convert another field goal until Devan Carter's 3-point play at 5:33. During the stretch, the Bulldogs outscored the Phoenix 15-3 to take an 18-6 advantage. Elon's three points during the span all came on free throws from Long.
Samford was paced offensively by King in the first half. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 center from Omaha, Neb., turned in a 4-for-5 outing from the field and led all scorers with 11 points. King knocked down 3-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc in the first period.
Senior Bryan Friday and Peterson both added five first-half points. Samford shot 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Long led Elon in first-half scoring with six points. He was 1-for-3 from the field, but a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue their critical three-game SoCon road trip against the UNC Greensboro Spartans at Fleming Gym.
