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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team tallied its second straight Southern Conference victory Saturday as the Bulldogs held off the resurgent Western Carolina Catamounts, 78-72, in a key league contest held at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford's Michael Bradley registered his second-consecutive double-double in the win with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
 
"This was a total team effort today and I can't say enough about Michael Bradley and how proud I am of him getting two straight double-doubles," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "For a while there this season, we were really struggling to rebound the ball as a team, but Mike has come in and done a great job rebounding the ball for us. He went and got some huge rebounds for us today and he makes us a much better team when he's playing like this."
 
In Saturday's triumph, Samford (9-14, 2-8 SoCon) shot a sizzling 92.9 percent (26-of-28) from the free-throw line and forced Western Carolina (9-12, 4-5 SoCon) into 20 turnovers. The Bulldogs capitalized off the Catamounts' miscues and registered 24 points off turnovers.
 
Samford's Darius Jones-Gibson paced his squad with 19 points and four steals, while also grabbing a pair of rebounds and shooting 7-of-12 from the field. Jones-Gibson is the Bulldogs' leading scorer this season at 11.8 points per game and is scoring a team-high 16.1 points per outing in SoCon play.
 
"It feels really good to be able to win these last two games and now we have a lot of confidence heading forward in SoCon play," said Jones-Gibson. "We're starting to get this thing rolling and we feel as if we've made it through a lot of the hard times. We always kept the faith and we never started pointing fingers at each other. Now, we're playing extremely well and all of our hard work is paying off."
 
The Bulldogs shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the opening half and built a 10-point lead, 35-25, with 1:17 remaining in the first period. Western Carolina closed out the initial half with a 5-0 run, but Samford still boasted a 35-30 advantage at the intermission.
 
The teams battled to between two to five points of each other for a majority of the second half, before the Bulldogs used four-consecutive free throws from Bradley to garner a 56-47 lead with 8:26 left to play in the game.
 
Bradley, Samford's dominant 6-foot-10 senior center from Chattanooga, Tennessee, finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe Saturday en route to his second double-double of the week. In the Bulldogs' 89-78 victory over UNCG on Thursday, Bradley finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Against Western Carolina, Bradley earned 16 points and 10 rebounds, while turning in a 4-of-6 shooting performance from the floor.
 
"We have some guys who are really playing well right now," Padgett said. "Darius Jones-Gibson has been as good as anybody in the league this season. He's averaging over 16 points in conference play and I love how he's a gambler. I've been begging this team to be more aggressive and this week we have been. He came up with four huge steals today, including the one that sealed the win for us."
 
Samford concluded Saturday's victory with five players scoring in double figures for the second straight game.
 
True freshman point guard Christen Cunningham tallied 13 points, six assists and a rebound, while junior Marcus Johnson came off the bench to notch 12 points, two assists and a steal.
 
Senior forward Tyler Hood turned in a solid all-around game for the Bulldogs on Saturday with 11 points, three assists, two rebounds and a pair of steals. Hood, Samford's team captain from Lenoir City, Tennessee, has now increased his career total to 1,050.
 
"Our guys did an outstanding job of having a laser-like focus during our practice and walk-thru here since the UNCG game," Padgett said. "They have really been working hard on the game-plans and preparing for our opponents. After playing at Mercer, I think they really realized what it takes to win a championship and the hard work has paid off in these last two games."
 
Late in Saturday's contest, Western Carolina battled back from 10 points down to trim Samford's lead to two, 74-72, with 19 seconds remaining.
 
Bradley then connected on a pair of huge free throws before Johnson iced the game away with two more free throws of his own to make the final score, 78-72.
 
With Saturday's victory, Samford improved to 5-2 against Western Carolina in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The Samford University basketball team will take a week off from competitive play and next be in action Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs conclude their pivotal three-game homestand with a key league matchup against the Furman Paladins to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

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