Box Score
Samford Stats

MACON, Ga. -- In front of 3,672 orange-clad fans Saturday, the Samford University basketball team could never get in sync on the road against the Mercer Bears as the Bulldogs dropped an 80-56 decision in a Southern Conference matchup held at Hawkins Arena.
 
"Obviously, we set a bad tone on the first play when we just threw the ball directly to the other team," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "That kind of set the tone for the night and then we came out and gave up three straight 3-pointers. We gave them a lot of momentum at the beginning of the game and then we were playing catch-up from that point on."
 
Samford (7-14, 0-8 SoCon) committed seven first-half turnovers Saturday and trailed by as many as 16 points in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
At the intermission, Mercer (11-9, 6-1 SoCon) held a 40-26 advantage and received 17 first-half points from junior guard Ike Nwamu. Nwamu, who finished with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, scored 12 of the Bears' first 15 points as Mercer jumped out to an early 17-2 lead over the Bulldogs.
 
Late in the opening period, Samford used a driving layup from Darius Jones-Gibson and a deep 3-point basket from Marcus Johnson to trim the Bears' advantage to 29-21 with 4:11 left until halftime.
 
"I thought we fought hard for a while and in spurts, but then you would see the guys making a lot of mistakes," Padgett said. "I don't know if they were tired or what, but this was a night where it was the most frustrating to me, because I thought it was the first time that this team quit a little and that's very disappointing."
 
The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field in the opening half and drained a trio of 3-point baskets. Mercer also turned in a 44-percent shooting mark in the opening period, but registered a 5-of-9 performance from 3-point range.
 
The Bears closed out the first half on an 11-5 run to take a 40-26 lead into halftime.
 
"It's hard to make a run, when you want to get out there and press, and you'll have four guys that are really involved in it, but then that one guy is not selling out to get the turnover, and that really makes it frustrating," Padgett said. "Those four guys are doing what they are supposed to, but then there's one guy who then ruins it by giving up the easy basket."
 
In the second half of action, Samford battled back to within 11 points at the 16:41 mark, 44-33, but then Mercer exploded to take a 64-40 advantage with 9:17 remaining in the SoCon contest.
 
The Bears finished with three players scoring in double figures, while the Bulldogs notched two. Samford's Johnson came off the bench to tally a team-high 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting as freshman point guard Christen Cunningham notched 10 points, four assists and a rebound in 25 minutes of game action.
 
The Bulldogs' Tyler Hood added eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field, while Evan Taylor, Jones-Gibson and Nnamdi Enechionyia all finished with six apiece.
 
Samford concluded Saturday's game with 15 assists on 21 baskets, but was out-rebounded 35-22.
 
"In the first half alone, they scored 28 points off of our turnovers and second-chance opportunities," Padgett said. "So, for 28 of their 40 points in the first half, we basically shot ourselves in the foot. Then, in the second half, about halfway through, I think we quit and that's very frustrating as well."
 
Mercer's offensive attack was paced by Nwamu's game-high 22. Jibri Bryan added 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, while Darious Moten chipped in with 11 points and four assists.
 
The Bears turned in a 51-percent shooting mark from the field and a 47.1-percent performance from 3-point range. Samford finished at 25-percent from 3-point land, as well as 50 percent from the charity stripe.
 
"Tomorrow, I don't think any of these guys need to step foot in a gym," said Padgett. "We've lost six games in a row, and it's tough, but it's college basketball and it can definitely be a grind if you let it be a grind, or you can love it and be excited about every day that you're in the gym. Maybe I need to show these guys how great they have it by being a Division I basketball player.
 
"In our locker room, we have a sign that talks about kids in Indonesia who have to climb a broken bridge over a huge river every day just to go to class. They do it because they want it.
 
"Think about the things that we have and that story definitely puts it in perspective. We need to learn that every time we step out there to have fun and enjoy it, because it is a game that can take these guys a long way and has taken me a long way in life. You can't get better and you can't win if you don't enjoy stepping into the gym every day."
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a 10-day, three-game SoCon homestand against the UNCG Spartans in a critical league contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

Box Score
Samford Stats