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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin its biggest Southern Conference homestand of the 2013-14 season Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the second-place Davidson Wildcats to the Pete Hanna Center for a highly-anticipated league showdown.
 
Samford (10-14, 4-5 SoCon) heads into the contest with a full head of steam after earning a momentous 76-68 road win at Furman on Monday. The Bulldogs have been triumphant in three of their last four games and boast a stellar 8-2 record at home this season.
 
Against Furman, Samford overcame a 10-point, second-half deficit and streaked to a momentous 76-68 road victory in SoCon play held at Timmons Arena.
 
Three minutes into the second half, Samford embarked upon an 18-3 run to quickly erase a 41-31 disadvantage en route to a 49-44 lead in the game with 10:27 remaining to play.
 
During the Bulldogs' seven-minute rally, true freshman Isaiah Williams scored eight of the team's 18 points and handed out a pair of assists. Juniors Raijon Kelly and Tyler Hood both added three points apiece, while sophomore forward Tim Williams added a trio of points as well.
 
Samford's offensive pace played a key role in the team's comeback, but the Bulldogs' rally was truly ignited by nine-consecutive defensive stops.
 
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs continued to maintain a 7-to-10 point lead for the remainder of the game as Samford cruised to the key 76-68 victory. The Bulldogs' win snapped a five-game road losing streak and proved to be the team's lone SoCon win away from home this season.
 
Samford's Kelly came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field at Furman, while also turning in a perfect 8-of-8 performance from the free-throw line. Kelly, who is now just 18 points shy of becoming the 23rd player in Samford history to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau, also added three rebounds and a steal Monday.
 
The Bulldogs' last player to reach the historic 1,000-point mark was 6-foot-4 sharpshooter Josh Davis in 2011. Davis, a native of Lubbock, Texas, closed out his illustrious four-year Samford career as the school's 19th-ranked scorer with 1,068 total points.
 
Samford's Tim Williams registered his fourth double-double of the season against Furman and tallied the 10th of his young career by recording 16 points and 10 rebounds. Samford's 6-foot-8 native of Chicago, Ill., finished 6-of-9 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
 
Williams is ranked No. 10 in the nation in field-goal percentage and is shooting a stellar 60.3 percent from the field this season. The Bulldogs' talented forward is also ranked first in the SoCon in the category.
 
Additionally, Williams, who was named the 2013 SoCon Freshman of the Year, heads into Thursday's game ranked No. 48 in the country in total field goals made (146), No. 121 in total points (384) and No. 129 in total blocks (32).
 
Davidson (12-11, 8-1 SoCon) enters the contest having won five straight and eight of its last nine games, including a demonstrative 94-51 blasting of Chattanooga on Jan. 30.
 
Since dropping a heartbreaking 87-85 overtime loss to Elon on Jan. 16, the Wildcats have rattled off consecutive victories against UNCG, Western Carolina, Georgia Southern, Chattanooga and The Citadel. Davidson is the only team in the SoCon that owns a winning record on the road this season (6-4).
 
The Wildcats enter Thursday's game as the top scoring team in the conference.
 
Davidson is averaging 77 points per outing this season and is ranked No. 55 in the nation in the category. De'Mon Brooks, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, is the Wildcats' leading scorer with 18.5 points per game. He also boasts the team's top rebounding numbers at 7.3 rebounds per contest.
 
The Bulldogs will face Davidson on the hardwood for the 10th time in school history Thursday. The Wildcats currently hold an 8-1 all-time advantage in the series and are in the midst of a two-game winning streak versus Samford. The Bulldogs' lone victory in the series occurred Jan. 28, 2012, with a thrilling 77-74 win held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford placed a pair of Bulldogs on the Preseason All-SoCon Team in Kelly and Tim Williams.
 
Last year, Kelly earned all-league honors, while Williams was named the league's Freshman of the Year. In 2012-13, Kelly became Samford's all-time, single-season leader in assists as he set the school record with 151 and surpassed former Bulldog-great Ervin Terry's previous-best total of 140.
 
Kelly finished the campaign ranked 12th in the SoCon in scoring at 14.1 points per game and was ranked second in the SoCon with 151 assists for an average of 4.7 per game.
 
Williams is coming off a stellar freshman campaign at Samford. In 2012-13, he led all conference freshmen in both scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 pg). Overall, he finished the season ranked sixth in the league in rebounding and 11th in scoring.
 
The Bulldogs' 2013-14 roster is comprised of eight newcomers, six true freshmen, three sophomores and five juniors. Samford's lone seniors on the team this season are walk-ons Hamilton Bailey and Tony Thompson. Second-year head coach Bennie Seltzer has quickly changed the makeup of the Bulldogs' roster and nine of the team's extremely talented 16 players are underclassmen.
 
Samford's Isaiah Williams played a huge role in the Bulldogs' 76-68 road victory at Furman on Monday. Williams, who is Samford's dynamic 6-foot-1 point guard from Buford, Ga., scored 17 points and handed out four assists in the key triumph over the Paladins.
 
Despite getting into some worrisome foul trouble, Williams changed the momentum of the game early in the second half as he drained a pair of 3-pointers and handed out a pair of key assists, while leading the Bulldogs on a pivotal 19-3 run.
 
Williams finished Monday's contest with a game-high three 3-point field goals and turned in a 6-of-12 shooting performance from the floor despite squaring off against one of the league's elite guards in Stephen Croone.
 
Samford has already squared off against some of the most talented teams in the nation this season, three of which advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. On Nov. 15, Samford traveled to Bloomington, Ind., and faced the 23rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers.
 
Last season, Indiana advanced to the Sweet 16 in the East Region where it lost to Syracuse, 61-50. Samford's Seltzer, who worked under Indiana head coach Tom Crean for six years, returned to play at Indiana University where he spent four seasons as a key assistant coach.
 
On Dec. 14, Samford began a challenging three-game road stretch at Florida Gulf Coast University and dropped an 83-51 decision to the Eagles. Last season, FGCU proved to be the darling of the NCAA Tournament by advancing all the way to the Sweet 16 where the Eagles were eventually knocked out by No. 3-seed Florida in the South Region.
 
Marquette advanced to the Elite 8 in last year's NCAA Tournament. After defeating Miami, 71-61, in the East Regional opener, the Golden Eagles were subdued by Syracuse's match-up zone, 55-39. Samford dropped a 71-48 decision at Marquette on Dec. 28 in Milwaukee, Wis.
 
Following Thursday's key SoCon showdown with second-place Davidson, the Samford University basketball team will continue its vital conference weekend Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) against the first-place Chattanooga Mocs in yet another huge contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

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