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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Samford University basketball team committed 18 turnovers, 12 of which occurred in the second half Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped an 83-51 decision against the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles in an early-season contest held at Alico Arena.
 
"We obviously didn't do a great job defensively today in giving up 83 points, so we need to make sure that our defense shows up every time we step out on the court," said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. "Tim (Williams) was injured last night in practice and we weren't sure if he was going to be able to go today. He tried this morning and even as we were warming up, but he just couldn't do it. That hurt us today, but not to the tune of 32 points. Not playing well on the road is a recipe for disaster."
 
Tim Williams, Samford's leading scorer on the season with an average of 15.4 points per game, did not play Saturday due to a hip contusion. He was injured in practice Friday and was a game-time decision.
 
With the loss, Samford (4-8) moved to 0-7 when playing on the road this season. The Bulldogs will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) as they travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for another road contest against the Jacksonville University Dolphins.
 
Samford only committed six turnovers in the first half Saturday, but suffered 12 costly miscues in the final 20 minutes of action. FGCU (5-4) outscored the Bulldogs, 25-8, in points-off turnovers and parlayed Samford's errors into a 45-27 scoring disparity in the second half.
 
"There's no licking your wounds here and you won't hear any excuses from us," Seltzer said. "We just need to continue to work and we can't let mistakes compile and that seems to be what we did today."
 
Tyler Hood, Samford's junior forward from Lenoir City, Tenn., paced the Bulldogs with 11 points in 30 minutes of playing time. He also added four rebounds and finished a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Samford's Raijon Kelly and Chris Longoria both added eight points apiece.
 
FGCU finished with four players scoring in double figures and was led by Brett Comer's 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Comer tallied 12 of his 18 points in the second period and added two assists and a blocked shot.
 
The Eagles' Bernard Thompson scored 15 points Saturday and moved to within just eight points of reaching the prestigious 1,000-point plateau. Junior Natie Hicks dropped in 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, while Chase Fieler tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Samford out-rebounded the Eagles, 14-11, on the offensive end of the court, but FGCU ended up winning the total rebounding battle, 42-35.
 
The Bulldogs' Russell Wilson pulled down a career-high eight rebounds Saturday and handed out a team-high three assists. He also finished with five points, a rebound and a steal. Junior center Michael Bradley grabbed six rebounds and added three points, but got into some early foul trouble and only logged 17 minutes before fouling out.
 
Connor Miller chipped in with six points, three rebounds and a pair of steals for the Bulldogs, while Brandon Hayman, Jordan Capps and Nnamdi Enechionya came off the bench to score five, four and three points, respectively.
 
Samford's Longoria, who made the first appearance of his Bulldog career since transferring from Binghamton University last December, scored his eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in only six minutes of playing time.
 
"Chris has been chomping at the bit lately and I know he was ready to get out there on the court," Seltzer said. "He's still not 100-percent game ready, but I wanted him to get out there and play, so that we could see where he was. He looked pretty good, so once the next game rolls around, we'll see."
 
FGCU shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and took a 38-24 lead into the locker room. Fieler nearly accumulated a double-double in the opening period with eight points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
 
Samford's Hood scored seven points and pulled down a pair of rebounds in the first half Saturday. Fellow juniors Miller and Kelly added six points apiece in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
The Bulldogs only shot 16.7 percent from 3-point range in the first half and entered the intermission with a 32.1-percent mark from the field. FGCU turned in a 4-of-11 performance from beyond the arc in the opening half.
 
Samford forced the Eagles into eight first-half turnovers, but FGCU garnered a 10-5 advantage in points-off turnovers. The Bulldogs were also out-rebounded 22-15 in the opening 20 minutes of game action.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for a matchup against the Jacksonville University Dolphins to be held at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

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