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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team boasts a 3-1 record at home this season and will attempt to extend its current winning streak to three-consecutive games Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the Campbell Camels in a key, late-year, non-conference game to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford (5-8) heads into the contest riding the positive momentum of back-to-back wins against Presbyterian, 81-71, and Louisiana-Monroe, 64-50. The Bulldogs have been victorious in three of their last four outings held at home and will play their next four games at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
In the biggest margin of victory of the young, ever-improving Scott Padgett Era, Samford battled to a momentous 64-50 triumph over the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Dec. 21 in a late calendar-year contest held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford fell behind, 7-0, to start the game, but eventually worked its way out front and took a 32-28 advantage into halftime. The Bulldogs only shot 34.4 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, but knocked down six 3-point baskets on 18 attempts from long range.
 
In the second half, Samford shot the ball much better from the field and turned in a sizzling 59.1-percent mark from the floor. Conversely, the Bulldogs' stout defense limited Louisiana-Monroe to a 32.1-percent outing in the second half and a 32.2 mark for the game.
 
The teams were knotted at 43-43 with 12:33 to play before Samford used a lightning-quick
14-0 run to take control of the game and build its advantage to 57-43.
 
During the Bulldogs' key scoring stretch, Samford received four points apiece from senior Michael Bradley and junior Darius Jones-Gibson. The Bulldogs' Alex Peters, Christen Cunningham and Brandon Roberts also chipped in with buckets to sustain the team's critical rally.
 
Samford boasted a 14-point lead with 4:34 remaining in the game and held ULM at bay for the remainder of the contest.
 
The Bulldogs took their biggest lead of the evening, 64-48, with just over a minute left in the matchup. With its win, Samford improved to 6-8 all-time against the Warhawks. The Bulldogs also extended their winning streak at home in the series to three-consecutive games.
 
Campbell (6-6) is in the midst of its longest winning streak of the season and has been triumphant in five of its last six contests. The Camels have won three straight games against SIU Edwardsville, 70-65, Montreat, 90-64, and UNC Wilmington, 69-63.
 
Campbell enters Sunday's game averaging 7.6 steals per game this season. The Camels, which are only allowing opponents to score 63.8 points per game in 2014-15, are ranked No. 64 in the nation in total steals with 91.
 
Offensively, Campbell's D.J. Mason is ranked No. 75 in the country with 68 field goals made in just 12 games. Mason, the Camels' 6-foot-6 junior forward from Clarkton, North Carolina, is currently Campbell's leading scorer with 13.7 points per game this season.
 
Samford owns a 15-5 all-time record against the Camels. The teams are former rivals in both the Trans-Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Sun Conference and first met Feb. 10, 1979, as Campbell won at home, 88-73.
 
In the last meeting between the teams, Samford rallied for a 60-56 victory on Nov. 21, 2010, en route to the championship title of the 2010 Global Sports Showcase held at the brand-new Auburn Arena. That week, the Bulldogs also handed the Auburn Tigers a 79-68 defeat.
 
The Bulldogs' Tyler Hood was named the SoCon's Player of the Week on Tuesday. In games against Presbyterian and ULM a week ago, Hood averaged 15.5 points, five rebounds and three assists per contest. Additionally, Samford's Hood is just 40 points away from reaching the historic 1,000-point plateau.
 
In his last three games against Wake Forest, Presbyterian and Louisiana-Monroe, Samford's Hood averaged 16.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest. He also turned in a stellar 48.1 percent shooting mark from 3-point range (13-of-27) and is shooting 53.1 percent from the field.
 
Since taking over as head coach in June, Samford's Padgett has coined the phrase "FOE" as his biggest mantra of the Bulldogs' basketball program. FOE stands for Family Over Everything and has truly resonated with Samford's players ... old and new.
 
"I don't really invent a lot of things, but I've worked under a lot of great coaches and have been around a lot of great people," said Padgett. "My former teammate and boss, Steve Masiello, came up with the saying Team Over Everything, and I kind of liked it, but at Kentucky it was all about Family. So, I kind of combined those two concepts and now we have Family Over Everything (#FOE). I really believe that this team is a family and that goes with everybody's extended families, as well as the staff and everybody involved with Samford basketball."
 
Samford returned 21.2 points per game from last season's squad that averaged 70.5 points per outing. Additionally, the Bulldogs returned an average of 10.9 rebounds per game out of a total of 32.1 from the 2013-14 campaign.
 
In percentages, Samford returned 30.1 percent of its scoring production from last season; mainly from its top three offensive returners in Hood (7.9), Roberts (4.0) and Bradley (3.5).
 
On the boards, the Bulldogs returned 32.1 percent of its rebounding from the 2013-14 campaign. Bradley is Samford's top returning rebounder with an average of 3.6 per game last season, while Hood added 3.1 and Brandon Hayman followed with 1.2 rebounds per outing.
 
Following Sunday's key non-conference test against Campbell, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue play in their five-game homestand against the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks in an in-state battle to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

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