Box Score
Click here to find out who was Samford's Player of the Game

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In front of the second largest crowd in Pete Hanna Center history, the Samford University basketball team registered a momentous 75-71 Southern Conference North Division victory over the UNCG Spartans on Saturday as the Bulldogs closed out their 2012-13 schedule in triumphant fashion.
 
“We came up with some key stops down the stretch when we needed them most,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “That was the difference between tonight's win and our two close losses against Elon and Chattanooga. We got the key stops when we needed them and we came down and made our free throws down the stretch.”
 
With the win, Samford (11-18, 9-7 SoCon) retained sole possession of second place in the North Division standings and moved one step closer to securing a first-round bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. At 9-7 in conference play, Samford holds a one-game lead over both Appalachian State (8-8) and Western Carolina (8-8).
 
Next week, the Bulldogs will close out their regular-season schedule with key road contests at Appalachian State (Thursday) and Western Carolina (March 2).
 
Saturday's exciting crowd of 2,864 red-clad fans proved to be the Bulldogs' largest attendance since Jan. 31, 2008, when Stephen Curry and Davidson drew a school-record 5,116 to the Pete Hanna Center in a hard-fought 55-52 Samford loss.
 
UNCG (8-19, 6-10 SoCon) finished its weekend road trip with a 1-1 record and moved to 5-7 all-time against Samford. Head coach Wes Miller lost to the Bulldogs for the first time in his young career and dropped to 3-1 versus Samford.
 
“As it's been all year, if we get stops then we tend to win,” Seltzer said. “If we don't, then we tend to lose and I think our players are starting to realize that one stop is always the most important stop at that point in time. Tonight, we were able to get that one stop that we needed.”
 
Samford's Raijon Kelly paced his squad with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' sophomore floor general from St. Paul, Minn., took over in the second half of play and scored 12 key points in the final period, including eight of Samford's last 12. Kelly also drained a trio of 3-point baskets and handed out six assists.
 
With his six assists, Kelly tied Samford's all-time single-season record in the category with 140. He is now tied atop the leaderboard with former Bulldog-great Ervin Terry, who accomplished the feat in 1977-78.
 
Tim Williams, Samford's talented 6-foot-8 true freshman from Chicago, Ill., finished with 16 points, six rebounds and an assist. He knocked down 7-of-12 attempts from the floor and earned 33 minutes of playing time. Tyler Hood also turned in a solid game for the Bulldogs with 14 points, three rebounds, a trio of assists and a steal.
 
Samford's Connor Miller and Brandon Hayman both played key roles in Saturday's thrilling victory. The Bulldogs' sophomores combined to tally 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Additionally, the pair finished 5-of-6 from the field and made a number of hustle plays for Samford in the second half.
 
Miller, the Bulldogs' sharpshooter from Stanley, Wis., lit up the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and a trio of 3-point baskets to help his squad to victory.
 
All five of Samford's bench points were scored by Hayman, who provided a key spark for the Bulldogs on Saturday. Hayman, a high-flying 6-foot-3 power forward from Braselton, Ga., tallied five points, six rebounds and a blocked shot for Samford. His most important play of the day was a key rebound to secure the Bulldogs' victory with six seconds remaining.
 
Following a pair of free throws from Kelly with 13 seconds left Saturday, UNCG trailed 74-71 when Trevis Simpson attempted a game-tying 3-pointer from the left flank. Simpson's deep attempt clanged off the back of the rim and Hayman skied for the rebound over the Spartans' Nicholas Paulos.
 
“Simpson took a contended shot because Clide (Geffrard, Jr.) was all over him,” said Seltzer. “Brandon (Hayman) did an outstanding job of blocking out, got the rebound and then made one of two free throws, so we won by four points. It's just that simple. In the past, we haven't gotten the rebound or the stop, but tonight we got both and we were able to win.”
 
Hayman then connected on one of his two free throws and gave Samford its decisive 75-71 triumph.
 
UNCG's Simpson, who is the SoCon's leading scorer at 19.1 points per game this season, led the Spartans with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. Despite have two Bulldogs guarding him for a majority of the game, UNCG's junior knocked down a game-high four 3-pointers and went 6-of-9 from the free-throw line.
 
The Spartans' Derrell Armstrong scored 10 of his 19 points in the second half and handed out a team-high six assists. He also finished 8-of-14 from the field. Kayel Locke proved to be UNCG's final player in double digits with 10 points.
 
Samford drained nine 3-pointers in the first half and took a commanding 45-31 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs shot a sizzling 64.3 percent from beyond the arc in the opening period, but finished 0-for-5 from long range in the second 20 minutes of play.
 
“We got off to a good start and the 14-point lead at the half definitely didn't hurt,” Seltzer said. “UNCG has great scorers and they're never really out of a game. Trevis Simpson is definitely one of the top scorers in the country and he can make baskets with guys hanging all over him. I thought that we defended him well on a lot of plays, but he was still able to make the shot.”
 
Early in the final half, Samford used a layup from Hood at the 15:08 mark to earn its largest lead of the game, 55-37. UNCG then mounted a laborious 21-9 comeback run to trim the Bulldogs' deficit to 63-60 with 4:08 left to play.
 
Samford then relied on Kelly to take over the game as he scored eight of the Bulldogs' final 12 points to lead his squad to victory. During the last few minutes of the game, Samford also received a pair of crucial free throws from Hood, as well as one apiece from Williams and Hayman.
 
The Samford University men's basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a critical two-game, regular season-ending road trip versus the Appalachian State Mountaineers to be held at the Holmes Center (8,325) in Boone, N.C.

Click here to find out who was Samford's Player of the Game