Jan. 22, 2011

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Samford University basketball team was defeated in a Southern Conference road game against the Wofford Terriers on Saturday, 81-43, at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Wofford (10-9, 7-1 SoCon) outscored Samford (10-10, 2-6 SoCon), 43-19, in the second half.

"I couldn't find a single silver lining in this loss," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We didn't compete the way that we need to compete at this level. The really odd thing is that we played well the other night up until the nine minute mark. Then, we came out here yesterday, on the same court at the same time of day, and had a great competitive practice. We really worked hard, but today it was like we didn't know we were playing against Wofford. It was almost like they thought they were going to be competing against themselves again."

With the defeat, Samford had its losing streak extended to five consecutive games. The Bulldogs' last win was a 68-64 road triumph at UNC Greensboro on Jan. 6. Samford dropped its record to 4-6 in away games this season and has been defeated in five of its last six contests on the road.

The Bulldogs' leading scorer Saturday was junior guard Jeffrey Merritt with 15 points. He was the only Samford player to reach double figures in scoring. Merritt shot 6-of-9 from the field and finished a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range. He also added four rebounds, an assist and a block.

Gregg Wooten, the Bulldogs' sophomore point guard from Memphis, Tenn., added nine points and three assists, while redshirt freshman center Drew Windler registered eight points and a steal in 17 minutes of game action.

Wofford finished with four players scoring in double figures and was paced offensively by Noah Dahlman's 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field. The Terriers' senior All-SoCon performer, missed a pair of shots in the first half, but then went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the final period. Dahlman entered Saturday's game ranked third in the conference with an average of 19.4 points per game.

The Terriers' Jamar Diggs chipped in with 14 points and four 3-point field goals, while Kevin Giltner came off the bench to score 13 and Terry Martin added 12.

Wofford shot 50.8 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Saturday proved to be the second straight game that Samford's opponent shot over 50 percent from the field. In Thursday's loss at Furman, the Paladins shot 55.6 percent from the floor.

Wofford handed Samford its second worst defeat of the Tillette Era on Saturday. The Bulldogs' 38-point defeat was their worst since a 44-point road loss at second-ranked Texas, 77-33, on Nov. 16, 2005.

Wofford closed out the first half of play with a 16-7 run to take a 39-24 advantage into the intermission. The Terriers shot 53.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play and were led in scoring by Dahlman's 13 points. Wofford's Diggs added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor in the first half.

Samford's offensive attack was paced by Merritt's eight first-half points. The Bulldogs' junior from Oklahoma City, Okla., turned in a 3-for-5 performance from the field and knocked down a key 3-point basket in the opening period. Windler contributed with six first-half points and Wooten scored five for the Bulldogs.

In the first half, Samford only shot 37.5 percent from the field, but knocked down 5-of-12 of its attempts from beyond the arc for a 41.7 percentage.

Wofford started the game strong Saturday and jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead. The Terriers later took a 19-9 advantage following a 3-point basket from Diggs at the 9:38 mark. Samford then used back-to-back 3s from Wooten and Windler to trim Wofford's lead to 28-20 before the Terriers finished the half with their 16-7 run.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Ala., to play host to the Elon Phoenix at the Pete Hanna Center.