Jan. 20, 2011

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - In a Southern Conference matchup held at Timmons Arena Thursday, the Furman Paladins used an 18-1 run midway through the second half to rally for a 74-55 victory against the Samford Bulldogs. Prior to Furman's scoring outburst to end the game, Samford (10-9, 2-5 SoCon) only trailed 47-46 with 9:41 left to play.

"The score was 47-46 and we were right there with 10 minutes to play," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "They made some big shots and then I thought our energy sagged some. We hung our heads a little bit and didn't do a good job of scoring the ball. We took care of the basketball and only had eight turnovers, but Furman shot the basketball well, and we contributed to that by not playing with defensive intensity down the stretch."

With the loss, Samford suffered its fourth straight defeat, three of which have occurred on the road. So far this season, the Bulldogs own a 4-5 record in away contests. Samford will conclude its current two-game road trip Saturday at Wofford at 1 p.m. (CST). On Thursday, Wofford snapped Chattanooga's seven-game SoCon winning streak with a lopsided 88-56 triumph in Spartanburg, S.C.

"We've lost four games in a row and we have to be careful, because losing can fracture a team, especially if there's a blame-storming session," Tillette said. "Our guys need to stay together and they need to figure out a way to play for 40 minutes. We were on the right path the other night against The Citadel, but then we had some things go wrong down the stretch. Here, we played well for 30 minutes, and then for the last 10 minutes we just didn't play very good basketball."

Following a reverse layup from Samford's Matthew Friday and a pair of free throws from Gregg Wooten, the Bulldogs trimmed Furman's lead to 47-46 with 9:41 left in the game. From that point on, the Paladins streaked to an 18-1 run and later closed out the contest outscoring Samford 27-9.

Furman's Jordan Miller exploded in the second half of play and scored 20 of his game-high 21 points in the final period. The Paladins' senior guard from Memphis, Tenn., connected on six 3-point field goals in the second half alone.

As a team, Furman (13-5, 5-2 SoCon) drained a season-high 15-of-24 3-point field goals for a sizzling 62.5-percent outing from beyond the arc. Samford, which entered Thursday's game as the No. 2-ranked team in the nation in 3-point field goals with 9.8 per contest, finished shooting 6-of-20 from long range for a 30-percent outing.

Furman's 15 3-point baskets was its third highest total in school history against a Division I opponent.

The Paladins outscored the Bulldogs 44-25 in the second half. Miller's second-half outburst of 20 points propelled him to lead both teams in scoring with 21, while Furman's Noah States followed with 20 points of his own on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.

States entered the game as the top 3-point shooter in the SoCon with a 50-percent mark from beyond the arc. A senior forward from Troutville, Va., States tallied a 3-of-4 performance from 3-point range against the Bulldogs.

The Paladins concluded Thursday's game with four players scoring in double figures. Forward Amu Saaka and guard Darryl Evans both finished with 14 points apiece. The pair combined to shoot 9-of-18 from the field and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Samford's offensive attack was paced by both John Peterson and Gregg Wooten. Both Bulldogs tallied 11 points each and combined to shoot 8-of-12 from the field. Peterson registered a season-high total with his 11 points as he turned in a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the floor. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-7 forward knocked down a pair of 3-point field goals and was 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.

"John was great for us tonight," said Tillette. "We changed up the starting lineup a little bit and he gave us a good spark out there. I thought John was good and then I thought Josh Davis came off the bench with the right mindset and played hard for us. That was pleasing also, but we might change up the lineup again on Saturday. We'll see."

Wooten, Samford's sophomore guard from Memphis, Tenn., logged 27 minutes of playing time and was 4-of-8 from the field. He also knocked down a key 3-point basket and went 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.

With five seconds to play until halftime, Samford's Josh Davis swished a deep 3-point basket from the right flank to tie the score of the game at 30-30. The Bulldogs shot 52.9 percent from the field in the opening period of play, while Furman turned in a 52.4-percent outing from the floor.

Both teams were also as stellar from beyond the arc in the first half. The Paladins were 5-of-9 from 3-point range in the opening period, while Samford shot 5-of-10 from long range. The Bulldogs closed out Thursday's game only shooting 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the second half.

The Bulldogs' leading scorers in the first half were Peterson and Jeffrey Merritt with eight points apiece. Peterson, a native of Boca Raton, Fla., made his second start of the season Thursday and scored the team's first six points of the game as he drained a pair of 3-point baskets.

Merritt shot 2-of-4 from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play and was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed two of the Bulldogs' seven rebounds in the first half.

Samford only committed eight turnovers Thursday, but was outrebounded by Furman 31-17. Despite the disparity on the boards, the Bulldogs outscored the Paladins 24-14 in the paint. Samford's bench also outscored Furman's bench 31-3.

"The SoCon North Division race is still tight, but right now I'm just thinking about our team and how we can get things going," Tillette said. "I need to get our team ready to practice tomorrow and this isn't just coach-speak, we need to focus on each individual possession and not the game as a whole. Right now, it's just about getting ourselves right and getting ready for a tough game at Wofford on Saturday."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue their two-game conference road trip against the Wofford Terriers in a key contest to be held at Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.