Dec. 7, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team finished with four players scoring in double figures Wednesday, but only received 13 points from the remaining six Bulldogs in a hard-fought 83-78 overtime loss to the Mercer Bears in a nonconference showdown held at the Pete Hanna Center.

"Our guys really played hard tonight and that's what I told them after the game," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "There was much more disappointment in the locker room, which was a good thing, because it means it hurt more and that we tried hard. Mercer did a really good job and the two areas which hurt us the most were that we fouled too much and we turned the ball over too much."

Samford (1-6) received 65 of its 78 points from the combination of Tyler Hood, Drew Windler, Jeffrey Merritt and Will Cook.

Merritt and Cook both sparked the Bulldogs' offensive attack with 17 points apiece, while Windler added 16 and Hood tied his career-high with 15 points. Windler, Samford's 6-foot-9 center from South Milwaukee, Wis., provided the heroics at the end of regulation as he knocked down two key 3-pointers in the final minutes to send the game into overtime.

With 45 seconds remaining and the Bulldogs trailing, 73-70, Windler connected on a deep 3-point basket from the top of the key to even the game at 73-73.

Late in the contest, Samford had possession with 29 seconds remaining in the game. On the Bulldogs' final play of regulation, true freshman Devin McNeil was looking for Windler down the post, but overthrew the pass and turned the ball over. Mercer's Justin Cecil missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

"We committed some costly turnovers tonight and those were just a couple of plays that turned the game," Tillette said. "I thought that we made progress. We got better, but we need to continue to improve. We need to play hard just to have an opportunity. If we don't play hard, then we don't have any opportunity to win."

In overtime, Mercer (6-3) outscored Samford, 10-5, to take the final 83-78 victory. The Bears scored the first seven points in overtime and were boosted by six points from Langston Hall in the extra period. Hall led Mercer in scoring with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.

The Bears' Cecil tallied 13 points and six rebounds, while Jakob Gollon finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four steals. Travis Smith also chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Smith went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line as Mercer finished 21-for-26 from the game.

"I thought that was one of the key points of tonight's game," said Tillette. "Mercer is a very good free-throw shooting team and we let them get to the line way too often. We also committed too many turnovers and that allowed them to get a lot of easy layups and buckets around the rim."

Samford turned in its best free-throw shooting performance of the season (83.3 percent), but only got to the line 12 times, shooting 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs committed 16 turnovers, as compared to 11 for Mercer, which helped lead to 26 points in the paint for the Bears.

Individually, Samford's Windler recorded the first double-double of his career with 16 points and a personal-best 11 rebounds. He shot 6-of-11 from the field and finished 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Merritt also turned in a solid shooting performance Wednesday as he finished 4-of-7 from long range.

The Bulldogs' Cook and Hood both nearly turned in the first double-doubles of their career. Cook closed out the game with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Hood registered 15 points and nine rebounds in a career-high 41 minutes of playing time.

"Drew was in foul trouble and finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in only 20 minutes," Tillette said. "We need him to cut out some of the silly fouls and stay on the court longer. Tyler keeps getting better every game. He really played hard and he finished with nine defensive rebounds. Jeffrey and Will also played well, so those four guys did a good job, but we really didn't get help from anybody else."

McNeil started at the point guard position for the Bulldogs and finished with seven points, three assists and a steal. Samford's Brandon Hayman, Matthew Friday and Levi Barnes all came off the bench to score a basket.

The Bulldogs turned in their best rebounding performance of the season and out-rebounded the Bears, 46-38, including 17-10 on the offensive end of the court.

"We're a better rebounding team for sure this year," said Tillette. "I think that's evident this season and Mercer is a big team. They have some size, so that's a step in the right direction. It's just not good enough. It's progress, but just not good enough."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue their season-long, five-game homestand against the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders in the Pete Hanna Center (5,000).