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Samford Game Notes
SoCon Weekly Release

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- For the first time in its six-year membership of the Southern Conference, the Samford University basketball team will conclude its regular-season schedule with a two-game league homestand this week as the Bulldogs play host to the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) and Western Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
In Thursday's home contest against Appalachian State (8-19, 4-10 SoCon), the Bulldogs will look to Red-Out the Mountaineers as Samford (11-18, 5-9 SoCon) is honored to wear its special red jerseys to raise awareness of heart disease. The Bulldogs are also asking fans to show their support of American Heart Association by wearing red to the game as well.
 
The Samford Athletic Department will be teaming up with the American Heart Association and St. Vincent's to raise awareness of the No. 1 killer of women in Alabama – heart disease.
 
St. Vincent's Health System and the American Heart Association will be providing free blood pressure checks. They will have tables on the concourse for fans to learn information on how they can improve their heart health.
 
Samford will be giving out free red t-shirts to the first 200 fans in attendance.
 
Additionally, all Bulldog students present at the game will have a chance to win three prizes throughout the night:  A $250 Summit Gift-card, a new iPad Air or a $2,500 Spring Break trip.
 
Samford boasts a 9-3 record at home this season and will look to bounce back from a three-game road losing streak at Appalachian State, Elon and The Citadel.
 
On Monday, the Bulldogs suffered an 81-71 decision to The Citadel in the SoCon Game of the Week held in McAlister Fieldhouse. With the loss, Samford is now 2-15 when playing on the road this season.
 
Samford trailed by as many as 16 points early in the second half, but rallied back to trim The Citadel's advantage to just 63-58 with 6:32 left in the game. During the Bulldogs' rally, Isaiah Williams scored 11 points, Connor Miller drained a 3-point basket and Brandon Hayman added a high-flying layup.
 
After Samford cut the Cadets' lead to five points, The Citadel's Matt Van Scyoc scored five straight points to rebuild his squad's advantage to 68-58.
 
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs would use a jumper from Miller to cut the Cadets' lead to 74-67 with just over a minute left to play, but would not get any closer as The Citadel continued to knock down its free throws in the waning seconds and hung on for its final 81-71 decision.
 
Samford was led in scoring by true freshman point guard Isaiah Williams, who finished with 24 points on 9-of-14 from the floor. The Bulldogs' talented native of Buford, Ga., also tallied a 4-of-6 performance from 3-point range and handed out three assists. On Tuesday, Williams was named the SoCon Freshman of the Week for his outstanding effort at The Citadel.
 
Samford's Tim Williams finished with 20 points and nine rebounds against the Cadets, just one board shy of posting his sixth double-double of the season and the 12th of his career. Williams tallied a 7-of-13 mark from the field and finished a near-perfect 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
 
Appalachian State heads into Thursday's contest struggling with a three-game losing streak of its own. Since hanging on to win at home against Samford on Feb. 13, the Mountaineers have dropped consecutive games versus Wofford, 64-58, Western Carolina, 74-61, and Furman, 68-53.
 
Despite its recent struggles, Appalachian State enters the game as one of the top rebounding teams in the conference. The Mountaineers are averaging 36.5 rebounds per contest this season, including 13.2 on the offensive end of the court. Appalachian State's sophomore forward Michael Obacha is ranked first in the SoCon and 14th in the nation with 3.7 offensive rebounds per game.
 
The Mountaineers' leading scorer this season is Tab Hamilton with 13.2 points per game. Hamilton, Appalachian State's junior native of Winston-Salem, N.C., has also drained a team-high 54 3-pointers this year and is averaging 2.7 rebounds per contest.
 
Heading into Thursday's game, Samford trails Appalachian State in the all-time series by a count of 7-4. The Mountaineers have been victorious in the last two meetings between the teams, including a 74-68 win exactly two weeks ago Feb. 13, in Boone, N.C. Last year, the Bulldogs were triumphant when playing in Birmingham, 72-68, on Jan. 19, 2013.
 
In the first matchup between the teams this season, Samford dropped a hard-fought decision that featured nine ties and 16 lead changes.
 
The Bulldogs led by four points, 34-30, at the half, but committed seven of its 11 turnovers in the second period as Appalachian State rallied to outscore Samford, 44-34 in the final 20 minutes of action. The Mountaineers shot a sizzling 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the field in the second half and out-rebounded Samford, 39-28.
 
With 5:35 remaining, the Bulldogs held a 60-56 lead over Appalachian State following a fast-break, right-handed layup from Russell Wilson. Samford seemed to be charging towards a key road victory, but then the Mountaineers answered with 12 straight points to take a 68-60 advantage with 1:26 left to play in the game.
 
The Bulldogs then used buckets from Jordan Capps, Miller and Tim Williams down the stretch, but Appalachian State was able to connect on enough of its free throws to hang on for the final 74-68 home decision.
 
Samford's Tim Williams is averaging 17.3 points per game this season and has already surpassed his team-leading total of 454 from 2012-13. Just a sophomore, Samford's Williams has accumulated 485 points in 29 games this season and is just 15 points shy of becoming the 16th member of the school's 500-point club.
 
The last Bulldog to score 500 points in a season was Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Randall Gulina in 2006-07.
 
Williams' brilliant field-goal percentage of 60.6 is on pace to become Samford's top mark in school history. The Bulldogs' current leader is Randy Morgan, who achieved a Samford-record performance of 60.5 percent in 1974-75.
 
Additionally, Williams, just a sophomore, has already scored 939 points in his young, up-and-coming career. With at least three more games to play this season, Williams has a good chance to become the first player in Samford history to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau as a sophomore.
 
The Bulldogs are shooting a stellar 52.6 percent from 2-point range this season and has already registered 601 free-throw attempts. Last season, Samford shot 48.9 percent from 2-point range and attempted a total of just 502 free throws in 32 games.
 
The Bulldogs are averaging 20.7 free throws per contest this year, as compared to 15.7 in 2012-13. Samford is also averaging 16.3 layups per game since Jan. 18.
 
Already this season, Samford has scored 80 or more points in five games. The Bulldogs are averaging 70.8 points per outing this season and registered a Bennie Seltzer Era-high total of 92 versus Chattanooga on Feb. 8.
 
Samford's 92 points proved to be the team's highest scoring output since March 4, 2008, when the Bulldogs suffered a heartbreaking 101-94 triple-overtime loss at UT Martin in the opening round of the OVC.
 
Thursday's game will begin a weekend homestand and is being promoted as a Red-Out contest. Samford students in attendance will have the opportunity to win a $250 Summit gift card, an iPad Air and a $2,500 Spring Break trip.
 
Following Thursday's matchup with Appalachian State, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs conclude their regular-season schedule at home against the Western Carolina Catamounts. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as Samford will honor seniors Hamilton Bailey, Matthew Powell and Tony Thompson prior to the game.

Live Stats
Samford Game Notes
SoCon Weekly Release