Jan. 12, 2012

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - With 13.2 seconds remaining in Thursday's Southern Conference matchup held in Hanner Fieldhouse, Samford's Drew Windler attempted a game-tying 3-point shot from the top of the key that went in, around and eventually bounced out of the rim as the Georgia Southern Eagles held on for a 58-53 victory.

Windler's 3-point attempt would have tied the score at 56-56 with 11.8 seconds remaining. Following the miss, Georgia Southern (6-9, 4-1 SoCon) was awarded with a team rebound on the baseline and the Eagles' Jelani Hewitt closed out the victory with a pair of three throws at the other end.

"This was a very tough loss for us tonight, but I thought we took a step forward yesterday with a really good practice," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We felt like yesterday was day one and that today was day two. Obviously, we didn't get the result that we wanted, but we had a lot of positives and tomorrow needs to be the same way. We need to continue to remove obstacles from success. If you eliminate the reasons why you lose, then you have a greater chance to win.

"I told our guys that Georgia Southern didn't do anything spectacular tonight. They just made fewer mistakes than we did. As we continue to remove those obstacles from success, then we'll have a much better chance to get a win."

With Thursday's road loss, Samford (3-12, 0-4 SoCon) dropped to 1-5 when playing away from home this season. The Bulldogs will next be in action Saturday at 2 p.m. (CST) as they return home to the Pete Hanna Center for a televised SoCon contest against Chattanooga. The game will be broadcast live on My68 in Birmingham.

Samford trailed Georgia Southern 51-46 with 10:29 remaining in the game Thursday before Windler scored and Raijon Kelly drained a 10-foot jumper to trim the Eagles lead to 51-50 with 4:12 left to play. Kelly's key basket with the shot clock running down ended a 5:51 drought for the Bulldogs. During the same stretch, Georgia Southern was in the midst of a 6:50 scoreless drought.

Following Kelly's bucket, the Eagles' Willie Powers tallied three straight points to extend Georgia Southern's lead back to 54-50.

Samford's Windler then connected on a critical 3-point basket and the Eagles' Jelani Hewitt scored on a driving layup to make the score 56-53 with 30 seconds left in the game. On the next Bulldog possession, Windler's tying 3-pointer rimmed out.

Samford was led in scoring Thursday by both Kelly and Windler who finished with 12 points apiece. Tyler Hood also reached double figures with 11 points, nine of which were scored in the first half.

"I thought Drew, Raijon and Tyler all played well, but we constantly need to get better," Tillette said. "I also thought that Brandon Hayman came off the bench and did a good job for us. He only scored two points, but he finished with four rebounds and he played well defensively."

Georgia Southern was paced offensively by Hewitt's 13 points. The Eagles' sophomore guard finished with a 4-of-11 shooting performance from the field, but knocked down a game-high three 3-point baskets. Powers concluded the game with 12 points, while Eric Ferguson was held below his season average of 15.9 points per game with 11.

Samford outshot Georgia Southern from the field Thursday, but only connected on 30.8 percent of its attempts in the second half. Once the Eagles shifted primarily to their zone defense, the Bulldogs tallied a 2-of-13 outing from beyond the arc.

"Our guys are playing hard and they're getting better, but they missed some layups and some wide-open shots," Tillette said. "We were scoring well there early against their man-to-man, and then we got some good shots against their zone. I thought Connor Miller really played well for us. I know he was only 1-for-4 from the field, but he didn't turn the ball over and kept the defender in front of him better than others."

Georgia Southern didn't shoot great from 3-point range and finished the game at 27.8 percent. Samford turned in a final 26.9 percentage from long distance. The Bulldogs committed 19 turnovers Thursday, as compared to 13 from the Eagles.

"We fouled late in the shot clock a number of times and had some silly turnovers," said Tillette. "We didn't handle their pressure well in the second half, but then we got our mistakes corrected and we were right there in the game just a point down."

Samford shot a sizzling 56.5 percent from the field in the first half of play and took a 32-29 lead into the break. The Bulldogs also went 5-of-13 from 3-point range and were led in scoring by Hood's nine opening-half points. Hood turned in a 4-for-5 outing from the floor and tallied three rebounds and a trio of assists in the first 20 minutes of action.

The flow of the first half proved to be a back-and-forth affair as Georgia Southern would score off its full-court press, and then Samford would beat the pressure for an easy layup. The Bulldogs' biggest lead in the opening period was five points, while the Eagles held a team-best four-point advantage.

In addition to Hood's nine first-half points, Kelly followed with eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 performance from the field. Samford's true freshman guard from St. Paul, Minn., went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc in the opening period. Seniors Jeffrey Merritt and Matthew Friday also chipped in with five and four points, respectively.

Georgia Southern only shot 40 percent as a team in the first half, but Ferguson and Hewitt both finished with six points to pace the Eagles' offensive attack. From 3-point range in the opening period, Georgia Southern finished 2-of-8.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center for a televised SoCon contest against the Chattanooga Mocs. Saturday's game will be broadcast live on My68 in Birmingham.