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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the 2013-14 regular season Monday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Presbyterian College Blue Hose to the Pete Hanna Center for the teams' final outing of 2013.
 
Samford (5-9) heads into the matchup having been victorious in four of its last seven contests, including a dominant 85-63 triumph over Austin Peay in its most recent home game held Dec. 7. The Bulldogs own a near-perfect 4-1 record at home this season, but fell at Marquette on Saturday to move to 1-8 on the road.
 
In its first all-time meeting against Marquette, Samford dropped a 71-48 decision at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in the Bulldogs' final non-conference road game of the 2013-14 regular season.
 
Samford led Marquette, 11-8, early in Saturday's contest, but the Golden Eagles used a 28-12 run to close out the first half and to take a decisive 39-23 halftime lead.
 
Tim Williams, Samford's dynamic 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, Ill., led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, but the Bulldogs couldn't trim Marquette's advantage any lower than 13 points in the second half.
 
Williams nearly registered his second double-double of the young 2013-14 campaign Saturday as he finished with nine rebounds to go along with 16 points. He also added an assist and a steal in a game-high 37 minutes of playing time.
 
Samford's Raijon Kelly scored six of his 10 points in the second half of play to finish as the second Bulldog to reach double figures in scoring. The Golden Eagles outscored Samford, 50-12, in bench scoring and 24-11 in points off turnovers. Marquette also posted a 21-10 advantage in fast-break points.
 
Presbyterian (4-9) lost to UT Martin, 73-70, on Dec. 16, but then bounced back to defeat Appalachian State, 74-69, on Dec. 18. The Blue Hose owns a 3-2 record at home this season, but is only 1-5 when playing away from the Templeton Center.
 
Presbyterian enters Monday's game ranked No. 13 in the nation in fewest personal fouls per contest. The Blue Hose is only committing an averaging of 15.9 fouls per game and has only allowed opponents to shoot 211 free throws this season. Individually, Presbyterian's William Truss is ranked eighth in the nation in total rebounds with 125 in 13 games for an average of 9.6.
 
Samford will face Presbyterian on the hardwood for only the second time in school history Monday. Nearly 52 years ago, on Jan. 30, 1962, the Bulldogs defeated the Blue Hose, 107-80, here on campus in Seibert Hall. Presbyterian College is located in Clinton, S.C., is a member of the Big South Conference and boasts an enrollment of 1,200 students.
 
Samford is shooting a stellar 50.4 percent from 2-point range this season and has already registered 286 free-throw attempts.
 
Last season, the Bulldogs shot 48.9 percent from 2-point range and only attempted a total of 502 free throws in 32 games. Samford is averaging 20.4 free throws per contest this year, as compared to 15.7 in 2012-13. The Bulldogs are also averaging 15.4 layups per game since Nov. 23.
 
The Bulldogs' 2013-14 roster is comprised of eight newcomers, six true freshmen, three sophomores and five juniors. Samford's lone seniors on the team this season are walk-ons Hamilton Bailey and Tony Thompson. Second-year head coach Bennie Seltzer has quickly changed the makeup of the Bulldogs' roster and nine of the team's extremely talented 16 players are underclassmen.
 
With Samford's up-tempo offense and hardnosed man-to-man defensive mindset, Seltzer realizes that there will always be a need for quickness, agility and speed on his roster.
 
The Bulldogs' 2013-14 squad boasts 10 guards, including five players capable of filling the point guard position out of the 16-man roster. The only non-guards on the team are forwards Eric Adams, Jordan Capps, Tyler Hood, Emeka Ikezu, Williams and center Michael Bradley.
 
Seltzer returned home to his birthplace of Birmingham, Ala., on April 5, 2012, as he was named Samford's 27th men's basketball coach in school history. Seltzer played at Parker High School and went on to star collegiately at Washington State. Throughout his coaching career, he has been a key assistant at Indiana, Marquette and Oklahoma.
 
From Nov. 12-26, Samford embarked upon an arduous road trip that featured consecutive away games against UT Arlington, No. 23-ranked Indiana, Louisiana-Monroe, East Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Stephen F. Austin.
 
The exhaustive stretch included six games in 15 days and encompassed five different states as well as 5,050 miles of travel. The road streak proved to be the Bulldogs' longest since a similar six-game road stretch that spanned from Jan. 28 - Feb. 8, 1988.
 
Nov. 15, 2007, marked the dawning of a new era for Samford as the Bulldogs began play in their brand-new 32-million-dollar Pete Hanna Center.
 
The state-of-the-art 5,000-seat arena was completed in October of 2007 and features new locker rooms, a training room, a weight room and coaches offices. The Pete Hanna Center, which replaced Samford's historic 45-year-old Seibert Hall, also houses the University's recreation center and workout facility.
 
In their Pete Hanna Center debut, the Bulldogs dropped an 82-73 decision against perennial NCAA Tournament participant Belmont.
 
Following Monday's home contest versus Presbyterian, Samford will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs begin play in their 2014 Southern Conference schedule at home against the Wofford Terriers in a key league opener to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

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Samford Game Notes
SoCon Weekly Release