Jan. 7, 2012

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Samford University basketball team could never find an offensive rhythm Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped a 73-62 decision on the road against The Citadel Bulldogs in a Southern Conference matchup held in front of 1,023 fans at McAlister Field House.

Samford (3-11, 0-3 SoCon) finished the game with a 43.1-percent shooting performance from the field, but only connected on 7-of-29 attempts (24.1 percent) from 3-point range. The Citadel (4-11, 1-3 SoCon) shot a sizzling 56.5 percent from the field and turned in a 42.9-percent outing from beyond the arc. The Cadets' shooting performance was their best of the 2011-12 campaign.

With the win, The Citadel extended its winning streak against the Bulldogs to five straight games. Samford will next be in action Thursday as it continues its two-game road swing at Georgia Southern.

Samford was led in scoring Saturday by sophomore center Drew Windler's 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' native of South Milwaukee, Wis., also finished with three rebounds and an assist. Samford also received 13 points from sophomore Will Cook and 10 points from redshirt freshman Tyler Hood.

Hood, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-6 forward from Kingston, Tenn., shot 5-of-9 from the field and pulled down five rebounds.

The Citadel concluded the game with four players scoring in double figures. Center Mike Groselle turned in a perfect 10-for-10 performance from the field and finished with a game-high 25 points. The Cadets' native of Plano, Texas, also grabbed seven rebounds.

Rounding out the scoring for The Citadel was Cosmo Morabbi (20), DeVontae Wright (12) and Ashton Moore (10). Morabbi's total proved to be a career-high for the 6-foot-2 senior guard from Beverly Hills, Calif.

The Cadets shot a sizzling 60.9 percent from the floor in the opening half and took a 36-29 advantage into the locker room. The Citadel jumped out to a quick 10-6 lead and extended its advantage to 23-13 at the 10:27 mark in the period.

Midway through the first half, Samford used an 8-0 run to trim The Citadel's lead to 23-21 with 6:31 to play. During the Bulldogs' rally, true freshman Brandon Hayman knocked down a jumper in the lane before Windler tallied the next six points for Samford.

Windler led the Bulldogs with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting in the opening half, while Hood followed with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a 10-foot fade-away putback at the halftime buzzer.

The Citadel was led in scoring by Groselle in opening 20 minutes of play. The Cadets' 6-foot-7 junior turned in a perfect shooting performance in the first half as he finished 3-of-3 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Morabbi added eight points for The Citadel, while Moore chipped in with seven.

Samford turned in a decent 41.4-percent shooting performance in the first half, but the Bulldogs' total was dwarfed by The Citadel's season-high 60.9-percent outing. Samford was only 2-of-12 from beyond the arc in the opening period, while the Cadets finished the session 3-of-8.

In the second half of play, the Bulldogs were unable to string many baskets together and couldn't get within seven points at any point in the final 20 minutes of action.

Samford out-rebounded The Citadel 38-28 and only committed 11 turnovers as compared to 12 from the Cadets. The Bulldogs also led in second-chance points, 18-7, and bench scoring, 17-4.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs remain on the road for another key SoCon game versus the Georgia Southern Eagles to be held at Hanner Fieldhouse (4,358) in Statesboro, Ga.