Jan. 6, 2011

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford University basketball team battled its way to a 68-64 Southern Conference road win versus the UNC Greensboro Spartans on Thursday as the Bulldogs improved to 4-2 in away games this season. The contest was Samford's first time playing in the Greensboro Coliseum.

"This was a good win for our guys because both teams fought hard," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "Neither team was going to give up and it seemed like we were able to come up with a big shot or a big defensive stop when we needed it. I thought that this was a game where our schedule helped us. We've been in a lot of close games this season and that helped our guys keep their composure."

With the win, Samford (10-5, 2-1 SoCon) registered its fifth victory in six games and improved to 6-1 all-time against UNC Greensboro (0-13, 0-3 SoCon). The Spartans dropped their 14th straight contest and have not been triumphant since a 66-65 win over Furman in the 2010 SoCon Tournament on March 5.

Samford led by as many as 15 points throughout the first half in Thursday's game and took a 40-27 advantage into halftime. UNC Greensboro then opened the second half of play with a 13-0 run and evened the score at 40-40 with 15:04 remaining in the game.

During the Spartans' second-half rally, sophomore guard Korey Van Dussen scored 11 straight points, including a trio of 3-point baskets. UNC Greensboro's native of Zeeland, Mich., finished the game with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.

Samford finished the contest with three players scoring in double figures as junior Jeffrey Merritt led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds and turned in a 7-of-14 performance from the field.

Senior Josh Davis followed with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and increased his career total in scoring to 990 points. With his next 10 points, he will become the 22nd player in school history to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau.

The Bulldogs' Josh Bedwell added 13 points and knocked down a trio of clutch 3-point baskets. Arguably, his most important 3-pointer of the game was his deep basket from the left flank that ended UNC Greensboro's 13-0 run to open the second half.

"Bedwell played well and he hit a lot of critical shots for us," Tillette said. "He did a lot of good things all over the court and his senior leadership really helped down the stretch."

After Bedwell's momentum-changing 3-pointer at 14:42 in the second half, Samford went on a quick 11-5 run to take a 51-45 advantage with 10:43 remaining in the game. During the Bulldogs' rally, Bedwell scored five points, Merritt added a pair of buckets and Gregg Wooten scored on a driving layup.

Despite Samford's run, UNC Greensboro charged back to tally six straight points and again evened the score at 51-51 with 7:08 remaining. The Spartans used a pair of free throws during the stretch from Trevis Simpson and received back-to-back dunks from David Williams and Aloysius Henry.

Bedwell once again answered with a key 3-point shot and propelled the Bulldogs to a 60-54 lead with 4:40 left to play. Samford's sharpshooter from Hartselle, Ala., finished 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Bedwell also grabbed four rebounds and handed out four assists in 28 minutes of play.

The Bulldogs maintained a four-point lead down the stretch before UNC Greensboro's Simpson threw down a put-back dunk to trim Samford's advantage to 62-60 with 38 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs broke the Spartans' full-court press and redshirt freshman Drew Windler slammed home a two-handed dunk to go up by four points, 64-60. Van Dussen quickly answered with a 16-foot jumper with 24 seconds left in the game, but Samford closed out the victory with a pair of free throws and a breakaway layup from Davis.

Davis, the Bulldogs' native of Lubbock, Texas, is the leading free-throw shooter in the SoCon and has made 94.1 percent of his attempts (32-of-34) this season, including his last 11.

As a team, Samford shot 75 percent from the charity stripe Thursday and improved its record to 4-0 this season when the Bulldogs shoot at least 70 percent from the line. UNC Greensboro finished 9-of-17 for a 52.9-percent outing from the free-throw line.

Samford only committed 11 turnovers and registered 16 assists against the Spartans. Despite being out-rebounded 34-31, the Bulldogs outscored UNC Greensboro in the paint 30-18.

"Now, we'll work towards taking this momentum to Elon where we will face a very well-coached team," said Tillette. "It will be a totally different atmosphere from tonight's game as far as the arena is concerned. This place is so expansive, so it will make Elon's gym seem like a matchbox. It's a very enclosed facility and it's a tough place to play."

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 swing against the Elon Phoenix in a key league contest to be held at Alumni Gym in Elon, N.C.