Feb. 5, 2011

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Samford University basketball team used a stellar second-half performance from sophomore Gregg Wooten to earn a 58-50 Southern Conference victory against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Hanner Fieldhouse. Wooten dominated the final period of play with his dribble-drives and acrobatic layups. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-2 guard from Memphis, Tenn., scored all of his 12 points in the second half.

With the win, Samford (12-12, 4-8 SoCon) snapped a four-game road losing streak and moved to 2-2 against Georgia Southern (4-21, 0-12 SoCon) since joining the SoCon in 2008-09.

The Bulldogs will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as they continue their three-game road swing at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C.

With Saturday's loss, Georgia Southern remained winless in SoCon play this season and dropped its 12th straight game. The Eagles' last victory occurred Dec. 22 against Georgia State, 74-72, in overtime.

Wooten spearheaded Samford's offensive attack in the second half and scored five of his six field goals on driving layups. He finished 6-of-8 from the field and added two assists and a pair of steals in 27 minutes of game action.

The Bulldogs' leading scorer Saturday was senior forward Josh Davis with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor. Davis knocked down a pair of key 3-point baskets and rattled the rim with a thunderous one-handed dunk in the second half.

Samford outscored Georgia Southern 35-28 in the final 20 minutes of play and shot a torrid 57.1 percent from the field in the second half.

The Bulldogs led the Eagles by as many as 11 points in the victory as Samford's bench outscored Georgia Southern's reserves 35-8.

Senior Josh Bedwell came through in the clutch late in the game as he nailed 6-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs' senior from Hartselle, Ala., scored nine points in 25 minutes of play.

Junior Jeffrey Merritt played a key role for Samford as he pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-6 guard entered Saturday's game as the second-ranked player in the conference with an average of 6.6 boards per contest. Merritt also finished with seven points, three assists and two steals.

Samford's Andy King came off the bench to register six points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.

Georgia Southern's Ben Drayton provided the scoring punch for the Eagles Saturday with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. He finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and five assists.

After Drayton's game-high scoring performance, Georgia Southern's Rory Spencer, Jelani Hewitt, Tre' Bussey and Marvin Baynham all chipped in with an additional eight points apiece.

At the half, Samford used six points from both Davis and Merritt to take a slight 23-22 lead into the intermission. The Bulldogs opened the game with 17-6 advantage before Georgia Southern rallied for a 16-4 run late in the period to take the lead 22-21 with 1:22 to play in the half. Samford Davis then scored a layup on a backdoor cut to give the Bulldogs their 23-22 halftime advantage.

Georgia Southern turned the ball over 12 times in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Samford also committed seven miscues in the first half. The Eagles were able to convert the Bulldogs' mistakes into six points, while Samford scored five off of Georgia Southern's turnovers.

The Bulldogs shot 34.6 percent from the field in the opening half and finished 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. The Eagles tallied a 43.8 shooting percentage from the floor, but went 0-for-5 from 3-point distance.

Georgia Southern's leading scorer at the half was Drayton with eight points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field. The Eagles' junior guard, who recently reached the 1,000-point plateau, capped off Georgia Southern's 16-4 run with a pair of layup and went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

As a team, the Eagles went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, while Samford was only 2-for-6.

The Bulldogs' leading scorers in the first half were Davis and Merritt with six points apiece. Merritt, Samford's junior guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., also pulled down five rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs face off against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a key SoCon matchup to be held on the road at the Holmes Center (8,325) in Boone, N.C.