Box Score
Samford Stats

CLINTON, S.C. -- The Samford University basketball team connected on a season-high 14 3-point baskets Tuesday as the Bulldogs coasted to an 81-71 road non-conference victory against the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in a pivotal late December win held at the Templeton Center.
 
"We closed out the first half with great momentum and then we came out in the second half with the best energy that we've had since late in the Louisiana Tech game," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "We really did a great job of sharing the ball tonight. The ball moved around and we were able to shoot open shots."
 
Samford (4-8) trailed, 34-33, at the intermission and then exploded for 48 second-half points to trump homestanding Presbyterian (4-7) in only the teams' second all-time meeting. With the win, the Bulldogs remained undefeated against the Blue Hose and improved to 2-0 in the series.
 
Samford drained seven 3-point field goals in each half Tuesday as the Bulldogs finished 14-of-30 from beyond the arc. Samford shot 48.3 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from long range. The Bulldogs limited Presbyterian to a 23.1-percent shooting performance from 3-point range.
 
Samford's 14 3-point field goals proved to be its best shooting performance of the season and the Bulldogs' top tally since Jan. 19, 2012, when they finished 16-of-30 from beyond the arc in an 86-80 road victory at Elon.
 
"Our guys knocked down shots tonight," said Padgett. "Tyler started us off in the first half by hitting three right off the bat and then we were able to get a lot of contribution off the bench. Those guys really came in and gave us a lift and they were hitting big shots for us as well."
 
Senior forward Tyler Hood paced Samford with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-6 sharpshooter from Lenoir City, Tennessee, also tied his career high with six 3-point field goals. Hood finished 6-of-9 from beyond the arc Tuesday and evened his performance from at Pittsburg earlier this season on Nov. 16.
 
Additionally, Hood led the Bulldogs with five rebounds against Presbyterian.
 
Samford finished with four players scoring in double figures for the first time this year. After Hood's season-high 22 points, guards Christen Cunningham and Brandon Roberts added 11 apiece. Junior guard Darius Jones-Gibson chipped in with 10 points, while also handing out five key assists.
 
Cunningham, the Bulldogs' highly-touted true freshman from Georgetown, Kentucky, tallied a career-high eight assists Tuesday and upped his Southern Conference-best total to 58.
 
"Christen was very aggressive in the second half, and I tell him that he doesn't need to focus on either scoring or assists, but to just be aggressive in everything that he does," said Padgett. "When he has the ball, he should be constantly driving to the goal, and because he has such great vision, awesome things will happen."
 
Defensively, Samford limited Presbyterian's leading scorer Jordan Downing to nine points on a dismal 2-of-15 shooting performance from the field. Downing entered Tuesday's contest averaging a team-best 17.2 points per game this season.
 
"I put a challenge to our team tonight," Padgett said. "Jordan Downing is one of those guys who is a big-time scorer at the mid-major level and last year he really hurt us at our place. He's scored 40 points a couple times in college, so I put a challenge to our guys to keep him from his 20, and if we did that, we would have a really good chance to win."
 
The Bulldogs forced the Blue Hose into 12 turnovers and only committed five miscues in the victory. So far this season, Presbyterian is winless when committing more turnovers than the opposition.
 
Samford outscored Presbyterian in points off turnovers, 14-2, and bench scoring, 31-11. All six Bulldogs coming off the bench scored at least two points Sunday and were led by Roberts' quick 11 points in 22 minutes of playing time.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Sunday at 2 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Alabama for a non-conference duel with the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks to be held in the Pete Hanna Center.

Box Score
Samford Stats