Bulldogs Hold Off Feisty Kentucky State Squad, 76-73

Sunday, December 1

Birmingham, Ala.

2:00 PM

Samford University

3-6

Kentucky State

1-2

Team	1	2	F
Kentucky State	35	38	73
Samford	35	41	76

Junior Raijon Kelly and the Bulldogs erased a 10-point second-half deficit to charge back to beat Kentucky State, 76-73, on Sunday.

12.1.13 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Samford remains undefeated at home this season

Box Score
Samford Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- In its toughest home test of the young 2013-14 season, the Samford University basketball team tallied a hard-fought 76-73 victory against the Kentucky State Thorobreds in a non-conference matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center.

"Kentucky State is a very good basketball team and they gave us a tough game today," said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. "Regardless of what division they are in, that's a really good basketball team. Head Coach Antwain Banks does a very good job of preparing his team and they came in with a quality game plan today."

In Sunday's win, Samford (3-6) rallied back from a 10-point second-half deficit and finished the contest with four players scoring in double figures.

The Bulldogs' trio of Tim Williams, Isaiah Williams and Raijon Kelly all scored 15 points apiece, while true freshman Jordan Capps nearly registered his first career double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in only 23 minutes of action.

Tim Williams turned in a 6-of-11 shooting performance from the field, while Isaiah Williams did most of his damage from the free-throw line (7-of-8). He also grabbed five rebounds and played a team-high 33 minutes.

Kelly, Samford's 6-foot-4 junior from St. Paul, Minn., came off the bench to drop in his 15 points. He also finished with two rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot. In just 20 minutes of action, Kelly went 5-of-9 from the field, knocked down a key 3-point basket and turned in a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the charity stripe.

"Raijon is a veteran player and he did a good job of using that experience to step up and I thought he turned in an outstanding defensive performance," Seltzer said. "He had two steals and a block today and I thought he did a much better job of being aggressive. In fact, I think that also allowed him to play better on the offensive end as well."

The score was deadlocked, 35-35, at the intermission, but Kentucky State (1-2), opened the second half with a quick 8-0 run to lead 43-35 with 17:33 remaining in the game.

During the Thorobreds' streak, Quentin Henderson scored four points, while Ulysses Thomas III drained a deep 3-point basket. Thomas III finished Sunday's game with 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting and connected on a pair of free throws to give Kentucky State a 49-39 lead with 15:27 left to play.

Samford then used a critical post-up jumper from Michael Bradley, a three-point play from Tim Williams and six straight points from Isaiah Williams to garner a one-point advantage at 52-51.

Throughout their pivotal 11-0 run, the Bulldogs forced the Thorobreds to miss four-consecutive shot attempts.

"I think that entire run can be attributed to our defense," Seltzer said. "We switched to a zone defense there in the second half when Tim Williams picked up his fourth foul and that allowed us to protect him defensively."

Midway through the second half, Samford led by as many as seven points, 63-56, but Kentucky State battled back to within a single point, 67-66, with 2:31 remaining in regulation.

From that point on, the Bulldogs' Kelly knocked down back-to-back jumpers and Connor Miller swished through a momentous 3-point basket to give Samford a 74-68 advantage with just 16 seconds remaining.

"Connor's 3-pointer was huge," said Seltzer. "I look at the stat sheet and see that he only had three points, but he is a guy that we really trust out on the court, because he knows our program in and out, and he always knows where to be and what to do. With that 3-pointer, he knocked it down and it sealed the deal."

Kentucky State's Darquell Pulliam connected on an NBA-range 3-pointer with nine seconds on the clock to trim Samford's advantage to 74-71, but Isaiah Williams calmly drained a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

"Isaiah is a tough guy and he's getting better and better every single day," said Seltzer. "He's coming off a bout of the flu, so he wasn't yet back to 100 percent, but he's definitely better than he was. I also thought that Russell Wilson came off the bench and gave us some good minutes."

As a team, Kentucky State shot a sizzling 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs finished just 2-of-9 for 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. Samford outscored the Thorobreds, 42-33, in the paint and committed two fewer turnovers, 13-11.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue their four-game homestand against former Ohio Valley Conference-rival UT Martin. Samford's upcoming contest versus the Skyhawks will be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

UT Martin Stats