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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin play in its highly-anticipated 2014-15 Southern Conference schedule Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs meet the VMI Keydets for the first time in over 47 years in a critical, early-season league contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford (3-5) heads into its SoCon opener riding a wave of positive momentum after rallying to defeat Jacksonville on Monday, 76-70. In their victory, the Bulldogs overcame a late six-point deficit and fed off the energy of the home crowd en route to a thrilling overtime non-conference win. Samford shot 50 percent from the field in the triumph.
 
The Bulldogs trailed the Dolphins for a majority of the game and found themselves behind 61-55 at the 4:48 mark following a 3-point basket from Andris Misters.
 
Samford then reeled off a jump hook from Michael Bradley, free throws from Christen Cunningham and Evan Taylor, as well as a driving 3-point play from Darius Jones-Gibson to give the Bulldogs just their second lead of the half with 44 seconds remaining, 62-61.
 
Jacksonville's Marcel White then hit the first of a pair of free throws to even the score at 62-62. On his second attempt, White missed badly, but the rebound bounced directly back to him at the free-throw line to give the Dolphins the ball and a chance to win with just 26 seconds remaining.
 
On its final possession of regulation, Jacksonville's Kori Babineaux drove the right side of the lane, but dragged his pivot foot and traveled to turn the ball over to Samford. The Bulldogs' Cunningham then drove coast to coast with five seconds left in the second half, but his possible game-winning jumper hit the front rim as the teams went to overtime knotted at 62-62.
 
In the extra frame, Samford quickly jumped out to its biggest lead of the contest, 70-63, behind a layup from Jones-Gibson and crucial 3-point baskets from both Taylor and Tyler Hood. The Bulldogs continued to hit their free throws down the stretch and eventually tallied the 76-70 victory over the Dolphins.
 
Samford's Taylor turned in his best game of the 2014-15 season Monday versus Jacksonville as the Bulldogs' talented true freshman guard tallied 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Taylor, Samford's 6-foot-4 native of Cincinnati, Ohio, also pulled down three rebounds and added an assist.
 
VMI (3-4) also enters Thursday's conference opener looking to string together a winning streak. After three-consecutive losses against UNC Wilmington, 110-93, West Virginia, 103-72, and Maryland, 95-77, the Keydets ran past Mid-Atlantic Christian, 133-62, on Tuesday.
 
VMI enters the game boasting four players averaging double figures in scoring this season. Sophomore Preseason All-SoCon performer QJ Peterson leads the Keydets with 18.1 points per outing and is averaging a team-high 28.3 minutes per contest this year.
 
Additionally, sophomore forward Craig Hinton is scoring at a 13.4 points per game clip and is shooting a brilliant 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from 3-point range. Hinton is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage. Junior guard Tim Marshall follows with 11.1 points per game.
 
The Bulldogs will square off against VMI for the first time in over 47 years Thursday. Samford owns a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series between the teams, but hasn't faced the Keydets on the hardwood since Dec. 4, 1967, when the Bulldogs earned an 84-79 victory at home.
 
The first all-time meeting between the teams also occurred in 1967 with Samford winning on the road at VMI, 81-71, on Feb. 24.
 
VMI and Samford are ranked No. 1 and No. 13 in the nation, respectively, in 3-point field goals attempted this year. VMI has taken 258 shots from long range this season, while Samford has attempted 167.
 
VMI is also ranked No. 1 in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (12.8) and 3-point field goals made (92).
 
Samford's Cunningham was named the CRONS SoCon Freshman of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 12 points, four assists and three boards per game last week in non-conference contests against Kennesaw State, Louisiana Tech and Jacksonville.
 
Since taking over as head coach in June, Samford's Scott 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 was picked 10th in the preseason SoCon rankings on Oct. 15, and the Bulldogs have been using that last-place prediction as fuel and motivation for the 2014-15 campaign.
 
"We're definitely going to use it as motivation," said Hood. "We have big 10s plastered all over the locker room, so it's a constant reminder for us and we take that extra motivation into every practice. Every day, we strive to be competitive and to push each other to get better in each and every practice. Ultimately, we go out every day with plans of being the best that we can possibly be."
 
Hood enters Thursday's game needing just 104 points to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau in his career. With the achievement, he would become just the 24th player in the Bulldogs' illustrious history to reach the milestone.
 
At his current scoring pace this season, Hood would reach the historic milestone on Jan. 10 on the road at Wofford in a SoCon showdown to be held in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
 
Following Thursday's SoCon opener against VMI, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue play in their 2014-15 league schedule against the Furman Paladins in a pivotal league test to be held at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

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