Jan. 4, 2010

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Samford University basketball team led the Davidson Wildcats for a majority of Monday's Southern Conference game held at Belk Arena, but midway through the second half, Davidson used a 15-2 run to take a decisive 46-41 advantage with 7:18 remaining in the game. The Wildcats then knocked down 11 late free throws to hold on for the 66-56 victory.

Samford (6-8, 1-2 SoCon) used torrid 3-point shooting to take a 33-29 lead at the half before Davidson (7-8, 2-1 SoCon) outscored the Bulldogs 37-23 in the final period of play. The Wildcats were paced by a game-high 20 points from junior Brendan McKillop. Davidson's point guard knocked down a career-high six 3-point baskets, including four in the second half.

Samford shot 70 percent from 3-point range in the opening period, but only tallied a 27.3-percent outing (3-for-11) in the second half of play. Davidson shot 38.5 percent from beyond the arc in the final period and knocked down five 3-pointers in each half.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Bryan Friday's 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. Samford's senior forward from Grapevine, Texas, tallied 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first half and knocked down 6-of-8 attempts from the charity stripe. Friday was also a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Junior sharpshooter Josh Davis followed Friday with 14 points on a 4-of-11 performance from the field. He finished 4-of-9 from beyond the arc and added four assists and three rebounds. The Bulldogs' junior center Andy King came off the bench to score 11 points.

Samford held the lead for 24 minutes of Monday's SoCon matchup.

After Davidson gained an early advantage in the first half, the Bulldogs rallied midway through the period and led for the final 12 minutes of the opening half. Samford then maintained its lead for the first 12 minutes of the second period before Davidson regained the advantage for good.

The Bulldogs led by as many as nine points (24-15 with 6:15 to play in the first half) in the game, and by as many as eight (39-31) in the second half. Following a deep 3-point basket from the top of key by Davis, Samford led Davidson 39-31 with 14:33 remaining to play.

Following Davis' nothing-but-net 3-pointer, the Wildcats' McKillop retaliated with a 3-point field goal of his own to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 39-34. McKillop's shot sparked a 15-2 run that lifted Davidson to a 46-41 lead with 7:18 left to play.

During the Wildcats' scoring streak midway through the second half, McKillop knocked down four 3-pointers and Ben Allison tallied a trio of consecutive points, including a two-handed fast-break dunk.

Allison finished with 13 points as he proved to be one of four Davidson players to score in double figures. Following McKillop's game-high 20, Will Archambault added 14 and freshman guard JP Kuhlman tallied 13. Freshman Jake Cohen, who entered Monday's game as the Wildcats' leading scorer, was limited to two points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Following Davidson's back-breaking 15-2 second-half run, Samford mounted one final comeback to trim the lead to 51-47 with 3:48 left to play, but the Wildcats responded to knock down 11 of their last 13 free-throw attempts to ice the game at 66-56.

With the win, Davidson improved its all-time record against Samford to 5-0.

At halftime, Samford held a 33-29 advantage over Davidson. Bryan Friday paced the Bulldogs with 11 points, while King followed with eight. Samford knocked down seven 3-point baskets in the first half of play, including two apiece from Davis, Friday and King.

The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 70 percent (7-for-10) from beyond the arc in the opening period and turned in a 52.2-percent mark from the field.

Davidson connected on five 3-pointers in the first half and was led in scoring by both McKillop and Archambault. The Wildcats shot 40.7 percent from the floor in the period as McKillop and Archambault both tallied eight points. Davidson finished 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range in the first half.

The Wildcats used back-to-back 3-pointers from McKillop and Archambault to jump out to an early 6-3 lead in the game before the Bulldogs rallied from behind to take a 23-15 advantage with 6:24 to play. Samford's 9-3 run was sparked by 3-point field goals from King, Davis and Bryan Friday.

Late in the first half, the teams traded baskets until Trey Montgomery streaked down the court and scored on a buzzer-beating layup before halftime. Montgomery's breakaway lay-in gave the Bulldogs a 33-29 lead at the intermission.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham for a matchup against the Tennessee Temple Crusaders. Friday's game will be Samford's final non-conference contest of the 2009-10 regular season.