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GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Despite trailing by 14 early in the second half, the Samford University basketball team charged back to within three at 48-45 with 10:03 remaining Saturday, but the Furman Paladins rode a season-high 33-point performance from Stephen Croone to hold on for the 74-64 Southern Conference victory held at Timmons Arena.
 
"We need to understand what we are as a team," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "We can't have defensive breakdowns, give up offensive rebounds and have mental lapses throughout the game and expect to win. We're just not a very good offensive team right now. We didn't do a good job of finishing in the lane and we struggled to find our way shooting the ball. We have a week until our next game, so there's going to be a lot of work done offensively."
 
Samford (3-7, 0-2 SoCon) only shot 35.6 percent from the field, but found itself directly in the game halfway through the final period with Furman (2-4, 1-0 SoCon) clinging to a three-point advantage.
 
The Bulldogs used a 13-2 run early in the second half to trim the Paladins' lead down to three.
 
During Samford's comeback, Brandon Roberts drained a pair of 3-pointers and added a driving layup, while Jamal Shabazz knocked down a 3 of his own and Marcus Johnson scored on a jumper in the lane.
 
Samford's critical, score-inducing flurry included three of the team's five 3-point buckets made throughout the course of the game.
 
"Almost all five of our 3-point baskets came during that run in the second half when our team showed some life for the only time all game," Padgett said. "We have guys that are some of our best shooters who are really in some bad funks right now. We need those guys to knock down some more shots, so that we can open the lane up and create more opportunities."
 
Trailing by just three points, 48-45, Samford fouled the Paladins' Croone on a 3-point basket with 9:22 remaining and the Paladins' All-SoCon junior from Covington, Georgia, connected on all three of the attempts to move their lead back to 51-45.
 
Down the stretch, Furman's advantage hovered around the five-to-eight point mark as the Paladins held off Samford's late charges and wound up earning the 74-64 victory.
 
"It's frustrating to lose this game, especially in seeing how bad Furman struggled with our press," said Padgett. "That was good, but we were very rarely able to get into our press, because we hardly scored. It was a frustrating game and it was filled with things that just can't happen. We are not a good enough team right now to be able to spot the opponent points and still win."
 
Furman's win snapped its two-game losing streak against the Bulldogs. The teams will meet again this season on Jan. 31, at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.
 
Furman's Croone proved to be the player of Saturday's game as he dropped in 33 of his team's 74 points. Croone finished 8-of-14 from the field and 14-of-19 from the charity stripe as the Paladins shot 25 more free throws than Samford.
 
Furman attempted 50 free throws Saturday, while the Bulldogs only took a total of 25 shots from the line.
 
"I knew they were going to get some calls, but we should expect that," Padgett said. "We need to get better as a team. We are nowhere near where we need to be, but the good thing is that it's a long season."
 
Furman's trio comprised of Croone, Geoff Beans and Daniel Fowler accounted for 65 of the team's 74 points. Beans added a career-high 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Fowler scored 11 and pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double.
 
Samford's leading scorer Saturday proved to be Darius Jones-Gibson with 15 points. The Bulldogs' shifty junior guard from Lexington, Kentucky, only finished 3-of-8 from the field, but dropped in 9-of-10 of his attempts from the free-throw line. Jones-Gibson also pulled down four rebounds and handed out an assist.
 
Roberts provided a huge spark for Samford in the second half of play and finished with 11 points in only 17 minutes of action. The Bulldogs' shooting guard from Decatur, Alabama, went 4-of-9 from the floor and connected on a pair of key 3-point baskets.
 
Samford's Shabazz turned in a solid all-around game Saturday as he accumulated 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals in 25 crucial minutes off the bench.
 
"I thought Jamal played very good today and did a great job of rebounding the ball," Padgett said. "I also thought that Evan Taylor did a good job off the bench, but he needs to learn how to value the ball a little more. He had three turnovers today, but all in all it seemed as if our bench did all of our scoring, except for Darius."
 
The Bulldogs' bench outscored Furman's reserves, 38-22.
 
The Samford University basketball team will take a week off of competition for finals and then return to its non-conference schedule at 5 p.m. (CST) on Dec. 14, as the Bulldogs travel to Winston Salem, North Carolina for a national broadcast matchup against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

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