Box Score
Box Score
Samford Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Samford's Raijon Kelly, just a junior, achieved a prestigious career milestone Thursday as the Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 native of St. Paul, Minn., became the 23^rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points in a 109-88 Southern Conference loss to the Davidson Wildcats in an offensive bonanza held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"When the opposition shoots 73 percent from 3-point range against you, it's really hard to win," said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. "We knew they were great shooters coming in, but tonight I thought they did an exceptional job, especially from long range. If they could do that unguarded in a gym all by themselves, I'd be impressed."
 
Kelly scored 19 points Thursday and increased his career total to 1,001. The milestone-reaching 3-point play occurred at the 5:38 mark in the second half as Kelly drove from the right flank and skied high in the air for a 7-foot jumper. He scored the basket and was fouled on the play by Davidson's Andrew McAuliffe.
 
After a media timeout, the Bulldogs' floor general drained the free throw to reach 1,001 points for his career.
 
"This was a bittersweet game tonight," said Kelly. "We're obviously disappointed that we lost, but I was pretty happy to reach 1,000 points. Honestly, I didn't really know that I was that close. It's something special. I did it in high school and it's definitely better to do it in college. I never really had it as a goal, but I'm happy to be able to reach it and I'm extremely thankful to all of my teammates as well."
 
With Thursday's loss, Samford (10-15, 4-6 SoCon) suffered its first home defeat in well over a month. The Bulldogs' most recent setback at the Pete Hanna Center was a 71-61 loss to Wofford on Jan. 2. Samford is now 8-3 when playing at home this season.
 
Davidson (13-11, 9-1 SoCon) extended its winning streak to six-consecutive games and improved to 9-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Wildcats are also the only team in the conference to boast a winning record on the road this season at 7-4.
 
"I don't think we made a ton of mistakes tonight, but Davidson just did a really good job of taking advantage of them," said Seltzer.
 
In a dazzling 3-point shooting performance Thursday, Davidson knocked down a season-high 16 shots from long range and finished with a stellar 72.7-percent outing (16-of-22) from beyond the arc. Ironically, the Wildcats shot better from 3-point range than they did from both the free-throw line (65.5 percent) and the floor (64.9 percent).
 
Samford tied its Seltzer Era record of 88 points scored Thursday and finished a solid 58.9 percent from the floor, but was outscored by Davidson, 58-12, from 3-point range.
 
The Bulldogs drained four 3-pointers and shot 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Samford's bench outscored Davidson's reserves, 39-13, but the Wildcats won the fast-break battle, 17-6.
 
Davidson connected on 11 of its 13 3-pointers in the first period and took a 61-44 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs' 61 points allowed in the first half was their most points given up in a single period this season. At No. 23-ranked Indiana on Nov. 15, Samford allowed 54 first-half points in a 105-59 loss.
 
The Bulldogs were paced offensively Thursday by Tim Williams' 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor. Williams also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
 
"We rely on Tim so much," Seltzer said. "He's going to be looked at as one of our top scorers and he's carried that load for us all season long. My hat's off to Tim, because he worked extremely hard to get open tonight and he had a good game."
 
Kelly came off the bench to score his 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while true freshman Jordan Capps turned in a solid game with 12 points, four rebounds, an assists and a blocked shot. Fellow freshman Brandon Roberts looked at ease Thursday with 11 points, two rebounds and an assist in 18 minutes of playing time.
 
Davidson finished with five players scoring in double-figures and was paced by De'Mon Brooks' 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor. The reigning SoCon Player of the Week also grabbed six rebounds.
 
Brian Sullivan scored 23 of his 25 points in the first half to help the Wildcats build their early lead. A sophomore guard from Upper Arlington, Ohio, Sullivan knocked down a game-high seven 3-point baskets. Tyler Kalinoski added 19 points, while Tom Droney registered a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists, and Jordan Barham tallied 10 points off the bench.
 
"When you have a player who shoots the ball as well as Sullivan does, you want to try to keep him out of his rhythm," Seltzer said. "Tonight, he was able to get some really good looks early in the game and he didn't miss them. After that, it seemed like anything he threw up, went in."
 
Samford used an 8-2 run early in the second half to trim the Wildcats' lead to 76-62, but then Davidson scored the next five points to increase its advantage back to 19 at 81-62 with 11:04 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs wouldn't get any closer than 17 points down the stretch.
 
The Samford University basketball team will continue its weekend conference homestand 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.

Box Score
Samford Stats