Game Notes
SoCon Release
Samford Media Guide

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Samford University basketball team will square off against its 11th Southern Conference opponent of the 2012-13 season Saturday as the Bulldogs meet the Furman Paladins on the road at 3 p.m. (CST) in Timmons Arena (3,000).
 
The game will be aired locally on the radio at ESPN 97.3 FM The Zone. Fans will also be able to follow along on the Internet via Live Stats.
 
Samford (9-17, 7-6 SoCon), which currently owns the conference's sixth best record in the league at 7-6, has already faced each of the other 10 SoCon teams this season, including a pair of contests against College of Charleston, The Citadel and Chattanooga.
 
The Bulldogs head into Saturday's contest with a bit of momentum after earning a hard-fought 40-33 defensive victory against the Wofford Terriers on Thursday. Samford's defensive effort stifled Wofford's offense and limited the Terriers to season-lows in both scoring (33) and field-goal percentage (27.1).
 
Including the Bulldogs' game at Chattanooga on Monday, Samford's perimeter defense has held its last two opponents to a stingy 10.3 percent (3-of-29) shooting from beyond the arc.
 
Despite falling behind Wofford, 11-2, on Thursday, the Bulldogs' defense stepped up throughout the remainder of the first half and Samford took a 17-16 advantage into the locker room.
 
Raijon Kelly, the Bulldogs' All-SoCon Freshman Team member from a year ago, paced his squad offensively in the first half and scored all eight of his points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Samford only shot 31.8 percent from the field in the first period, but held Wofford to a 26.1-percent outing.
 
Samford's 40 points scored was its lowest total of the season. Defensively, the Bulldogs also held Wofford to its lowest scoring output of the 2012-13 campaign. Samford's previous low was a 42-point performance at Bowling Green, while the Terriers' was a 37-point outing at UNC-Wilmington on Nov. 24.
 
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a momentous 7-0 run to extend their one-point halftime lead to 23-16 at the 16:32 mark in the period.
 
Wofford later trimmed Samford's advantage to 26-24 with 10:57 left in the half before Tim Williams drained a pair of free throws and Clide Geffrard, Jr., nailed a key 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a seven-point lead with 9:41 remaining.
 
Down the stretch, Wofford wasn't able to cut Samford's lead to anything less than six points as the Bulldogs' Brandon Hayman, Geffrard, Jr., and Tyler Hood all scored crucial buckets in the final minutes of play.
 
Furman (6-18, 3-10 SoCon) enters Saturday with hopes of snapping a five-game losing streak. Since topping Georgia Southern at home Jan. 31, 81-74, the Paladins have suffered consecutive defeats versus The Citadel, 84-79, UNCG, 88-65, Elon, 64-60, Appalachian State, 72-66, and Chattanooga, 83-49.
 
Furman boasts a young roster comprised of 10 underclassmen this season. The Paladins' freshmen Stephen Croone, Larry Wideman and Kendrec Ferrara are all starters this year and have combined to score 24.3 points per game. Brothers Colin and Charlie Reddick are the remaining two members in Furman's starting lineup averaging 12.6 and 9.5 points per game, respectively.
 
The Paladins have ended Samford's season in each of the last two years by knocking the Bulldogs out of the SoCon Tournament in the first round in both 2011 and 2012. Last season, Furman topped Samford, 75-66, at the SoCon Tournament held in Asheville, N.C.
 
The Paladins lead the all-time series between the teams, 9-3, and have never been defeated by the Bulldogs at home in Greenville, S.C. Furman own a 5-0 record against Samford when playing in Timmons Arena.
 
During Samford's annual Media Day, Head Coach Bennie Seltzer described how he has taken an active role in allowing Kelly to take advantage of his newfound freedom in the Bulldogs' offensive sets.
 
“I stopped practice and told Raijon in front of the entire team that he has the ability to break off any single play that he feels he can go and make a drive towards the basket,” said Seltzer. “I told him that about three times in front of all his teammates to also let them know that he has that freedom to go make plays. Raijon is an extremely talented point guard and I don't even think he realizes how good and how talented he really is.”
 
Kelly, Samford's dynamic sophomore point guard from St. Paul, Minn., is the team's active leader points (651), assists (188), steals (46) and 3-point field goals (84). Hood is currently ranked second among the Bulldogs' active players in points (489) and 3-point field goals (64). He is also ranked third in rebounds (162) and fourth on the team in career assists (52).
 
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 651-consecutive games. The last time that Samford did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against UTSA.
 
The Bulldogs' streak of having made at least two 3-pointers in a game was snapped on Dec. 13, 2008, against Saint Louis when Samford turned in a dismal 1-for-14 performance from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs' streak of 476-straight games with two 3-pointers began Feb. 8, 1992.
 
UNLV is the national leader in consecutive games with a 3-point field goal as the Running Rebels have made a 3-point basket in 855-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Vanderbilt (849) and Kentucky (847) are the only other two schools that have made at least one 3-point basket since the rule was adopted prior to the 1986 campaign.
 
The Bulldogs' 2012-13 coaching staff is headed by Seltzer and consists of former Kentucky star Scott Padgett, former Oregon standout Yasir Rosemond and former head coach at Chipola Community College Jake Headrick. Samford's talented coaching staff also includes Director of Basketball Operations Anthony Saccoccia and video coordinator Charles Newton.
 
Following Saturday's SoCon matchup at Furman, the Samford University basketball team will return home to Birmingham, Ala., to prepare for next week's final two-game homestand of the 2012-13 campaign. On Thursday, the Bulldogs will play host to Elon at 7 p.m., before closing out their home schedule on Feb. 23 against UNCG.

Game Notes
SoCon Release
Samford Media Guide