Jan. 30, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team continued its struggles at home in the Pete Hanna Center Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped a 62-50 decision against the Western Carolina Catamounts. With the defeat, Samford's home losing streak versus conference opponents was extended to five straight games.

"We are disappointed that we couldn't finish the game how we wanted to," said Samford associate head coach Paul Kelly, who filled in for Head Coach Jimmy Tillette for a third straight game Saturday. "It was a very physical ballgame both on the inside and the outside, but I'm very proud of our guys and how they toughened up in the second half. Unfortunately, we just committed way too many untimely turnovers down the stretch.

Samford (9-13, 3-7 SoCon) trailed by as many as 15 points early in the second half, but fought back to tie the score at 39-39 with 8:51 remaining in the game. During the Bulldogs' 20-5 run, senior Bryan Friday tallied six of his 10 points, while Andy King, John Peterson and Josh Davis all knocked down key 3-point field goals.

Senior guard Trey Montgomery also added a driving layup during the stretch while sophomore Jeffrey Merritt tied the game at 39-39 with a layup of his own.

Samford finished with three players scoring in double figures, but only shot 31.3 percent from 3-point range. Western Carolina (17-5, 7-3 SoCon) connected on 52.6 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc and knocked down 10-of-19 attempts from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Davis who scored 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Samford's native of Lubbock, Texas, got into some early foul trouble Saturday, but drained 3-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc. Davis also tallied three rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes of playing time.

Samford's Bryan Friday and Peterson closely followed Davis' team-high scoring output with 10 points apiece. Friday finished 4-of-9 from the field and pulled down three rebounds, but committed six turnovers.

"We are a veteran team and we have to play a lot better than we did today," said Friday. "Western Carolina just kept making runs on us and they stuck to their game plan. They have a lot of playmakers on their team and they were very physical against us. Right now we're disappointed, but we just need to bounce back from this and play better to finish the season."

Peterson, the Bulldogs' athletic sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., came off the bench to score his 10 points. He was only 2-of-7 from the field, but turned in a perfect 5-for-5 performance from the free-throw line. Peterson logged a career-high 23 minutes of playing time Saturday.

After Samford was able to even the game at 39-39, Western Carolina bounced back with six points from Mike Williams and a pair of free throws from Richie Gordon to extend its lead back to 47-41.

Williams, the Catamounts' leading scorer from Baton Rouge, La., finished Saturday's contest with a game-high 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Western Carolina's junior guard twisted his ankle midway through the second half, but was able to return to the game at the 3:10 mark. Down the stretch, Williams proved to be a key factor as he handed out two big assists and recorded a steal.

Following a pair of free throws from Peterson at the 3:42 mark, Samford trimmed Western Carolina's advantage to 51-49. The Catamounts' next score was an emphatic two-handed dunk by Gordon as Western Carolina regained the momentum and closed out the game with an 11-1 run.

"I was proud of the fact that we were able to play much better in the second half," Kelly said. "We competed, we took care of the basketball and fought back to make it a one-possession game. Down the stretch, we just didn't play well in the half-court and we're a team that prides itself on half-court offensive execution. We turned the ball over too many times in the half court and that was a major factor in why we lost the game."

Samford committed 17 turnovers Saturday, while Western Carolina added 18 of its own. The Catamounts out-rebounded the Bulldogs 28-17 and outscored Samford 11-2 in second-chance points. Western Carolina's bench also outscored the Bulldogs' reserves 23-13.

The Catamounts closed out the first half of play with a 19-3 run. Samford led 16-13 with 10:55 left to play in the opening period before Western Carolina exploded on the offensive end of the court and took a 32-19 lead into halftime. The Catamounts connected on 8-of-12 field goals from 3-point range in the first period.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a key three-game SoCon road trip against The Citadel Bulldogs. Thursday's game will mark the first time that Samford will play in The Citadel's McAlister Field House located in Charleston, S.C.