Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University basketball team drained five 3-point baskets in the final minute of play Thursday, but the Bulldogs' late rally ran out of time against the College of Charleston Cougars in a hard-fought 69-65 Southern Conference contest held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
“This was a tough game for us,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “The thing that jumps out to me is the fact that College of Charleston got 16 offensive rebounds. We needed to control that a lot better and do a much better job on the glass. It was definitely disturbing to see that stat, because that proved to be the difference in the ballgame. “
 
Samford (7-16, 5-5 SoCon) led College of Charleston (17-7, 9-3 SoCon), 31-26, at the half and quickly extended its game-high advantage to 35-26 early in the second period before the Cougars used a 17-7 run to take its first lead, 43-42, of the final half with 9:36 left to play.
 
After garnering its first advantage since 4:54 to play in the opening period, College of Charleston's second-half run was further extended to 21-4 with a layup from Willis Hall and a two-handed dunk from Adjehi Baru. Baru's basket gave the Cougars a 47-42 lead with 7:53 remaining in the game.
 
“They went on that run in the second half and we just couldn't get past it,” Seltzer said. “It was during that stretch when we couldn't rebound the ball and that really hurt, but for the most part, I thought we controlled the game for a majority of the time. It was that second-half run of theirs that did most of the damage.”
 
College of Charleston finished Thursday's game with five players scoring in double figures. The Cougars were led by Baru's 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Anthony Thomas added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. College of Charleston's Anthony Stitt, Andrew Lawrence and Hall each tallied 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively.
 
With 1:30 remaining in Thursday's game, the Cougars' Lawrence somehow connected on an off-balance 17-footer with one second remaining on the shot clock. Lawrence's circus shot gave College of Charleston a 60-50 advantage.
 
Samford trailed by 12 with exactly 60 seconds remaining in the game when Raijon Kelly knocked down the first of five Bulldog 3-point baskets in the final minute of play. Despite two more 3-pointers from Kelly, including a buzzer-beater from half-court, and similar deep baskets from Tyler Hood and Clide Geffrard, Jr., the Cougars were able to hang on for the 69-65 win.
 
College of Charleston's Anthony Stitt made a trio of free throws in the final 25 seconds of play, while Baru added a pair of his own with 1.6 seconds remaining to fend off the resurgent Samford squad.
 
“All of these conference games down the stretch are crucial and it really hurts that we let one go tonight,” said Seltzer. “This was a tough game for us, but the crowd was great, and it really hurts when you let one slip away like that.”
 
The Bulldogs' Kelly led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. Samford's talented sophomore from St. Paul, Minn., added eight assists and three 3-point baskets, but committed a game-high five turnovers. Kelly played a game-high 39 minutes and finished 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
 
Along with Kelly, the Bulldogs' Hood and Geffrard, Jr., both chipped in with 13 points apiece, while Tim Williams added 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
Despite Williams' solid rebounding performance, Samford was beaten in the battle of the boards, 34-20. Additionally, College of Charleston outnumbered the Bulldogs in offensive rebounds, 16-4.
 
“Rebounding was the difference in tonight's game and especially offensive rebounding,” Seltzer said. “That's what hurt us the most and when you give up 16 offensive rebounds it's hard to win. I don't think the difference was their size advantage, because we could always block out. I don't think we got pushed around, but I think we were just a half-step slow to start the game. We also need to do a much better job of rebounding the ball.”
 
Samford shot a sizzling 53.3 percent from 3-point range Thursday and limited College of Charleston to only a 13.3-percent mark from beyond the arc. The Cougars entered the game as the nation's eighth-ranked team in lowest 3-point field-goal percentage defense at 28 percent.
 
The Bulldogs finished 8-of-15 from beyond the arc and were paced by Hood's perfect 3-for-3 outing from long range. Hood, Samford's 6-foot-6 sophomore forward from Lenoir City, Tenn., is shooting a remarkable 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from 3-point range in SoCon play this season.
 
College of Charleston outscored the Bulldogs, 42-24, in the paint and 14-9 off of turnovers. The Cougars also limited Samford to four points off the bench.
 
“They definitely hurt us in the paint,” Seltzer said. “They have some big guys down low, but most of their points in the paint came off layups. They also scored a lot of points on put-backs from offensive rebounds, so again we need to do a better job of rebounding the ball on both ends of the court.”
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against The Citadel Bulldogs in another crucial game to be held at the Pete Hanna Center. Saturday's contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3.