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CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Samford University basketball team will compete on the road for the first time in over three weeks Thursday as the Bulldogs square off against The Citadel Bulldogs at 6 p.m. (CST) in a pivotal Southern Conference contest to be held at McAlister Field House.
 
Samford (7-10, 0-4 SoCon) heads into the matchup with aspirations of snapping a hard-fought two-game losing streak. After stringing together a four-game winning stretch from Dec. 16-30, the Bulldogs resumed league play in its last two contests with back-to-back home losses against Wofford, 68-65, and ETSU, 76-74.
 
Samford owns a 5-3 record at home this season, but is only 1-6 when playing on the road.
 
With two seconds remaining in Monday's SoCon contest against the ETSU Buccaneers, Samford's Christen Cunningham pulled up for the possible game-tying basket from the left elbow, but the freshman point guard's 12-foot jumper rimmed out as the Bulldogs suffered a hard-fought 76-74 decision held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford led by three points, 72-69, with 2:34 remaining in Monday's league showdown. The Bulldogs' Darius Jones-Gibson scored on a driving layup to give Samford its largest lead of the game.
 
On the ensuing possession, ETSU's Rashawn Rembert connected on a 3-point basket from the right flank to even the score at 72-72 with 2:19 left to play.
 
Rembert, the Bucs' senior guard from Tampa, Florida, finished with 18 points and connected on three of ETSU's 10 3-point field goals.
 
In the final two minutes of play, the teams held a free-throw shooting contest and the Buccaneers garnered a 76-74 advantage with only 21 seconds to play. Samford then took possession of the ball and called timeout to set up the final play of the game.
 
The Bulldogs' Jones-Gibson started the action on the last possession by attempting a drive down the right side of the lane. He was cut off below the free-throw line and passed the ball out to Cunningham at the top of the key.
 
Cunningham drove to his left, stopped, took a pair of quick dribbles to his right and then pulled up for the potential game-winning jumper. The ball landed just on the inside half of the right portion of the rim, rolled slightly towards the back of the goal and then bounced out to conclude the game.
 
The basket would have been Cunningham's fourth of the contest. He finished with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while turning in a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the free-throw line.
 
Cunningham heads into Thursday's contest ranked No. 26 in the nation with 77 assists on the season. The Bulldogs' explosive 6-foot-2 true freshman point guard is averaging 4.5 assists and 9.8 points per game this year.
 
As a team, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 21 in the country with a total of 239 assists. Samford is averaging 14.1 assists per game and is also ranked third in the SoCon in the category.
 
Samford's Marcus Johnson turned in the best game of his young Bulldog career Monday as he scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Johnson's six field goals and five 3-point baskets were both career-highs as he turned in a brilliant 5-of-6 shooting performance from beyond the arc.
 
The Citadel (6-8, 1-2 SoCon) enters Thursday's key league matchup riding a wave of positive momentum after earning a thrilling 85-83 overtime win at UNCG on Monday.
 
The Cadets own a near-perfect 5-1 record at home this season. The Citadel opened its 2014-15 campaign with consecutive home triumphs against Toccoa Falls, 71-58, Bob Jones University, 81-50, Warren Wilson, 84-45, and Navy, 67-60.
 
The Citadel's lone loss at home this season occurred in SoCon play as the Cadets dropped a 67-48 decision against Chattanooga on Dec. 11.
 
Senior guard Ashton Moore is ranked third in the SoCon in scoring this year with an average of 17.9 points per game. He leads The Citadel with 40 3-point field goals this season.
 
All-time, Samford owns a 4-8 record against The Citadel.
 
The series began between the teams Feb. 19, 1992, as the Cadets tallied a 73-67 win held in Charleston. Since joining the SoCon in 2008, Samford is 3-7 versus The Citadel, including an 81-71 road loss a year ago.
 
Prior to last season's defeat, Samford was in the midst of a two-game winning streak against the Cadets. In 2012-13, the Bulldogs swept their home-and-home season series versus The Citadel with wins of 69-65 and 79-67. Samford four-point road win that year proved to be the only time in school history that the Bulldogs have defeated the Cadets in Charleston.
 
Samford's Tyler Hood enters Thursday's game needing just two points to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau in his career.
 
With the achievement, Hood would become just the 24th player in the Bulldogs' illustrious history to reach the milestone. Hood is Samford's leading scorer at 10.8 points per game this season and should reach the historic milestone Thursday against The Citadel in a key SoCon showdown to be held in Charleston.
 
So far this season, Samford has been shooting the ball significantly better at home in the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs are shooting 47.8 percent from the field at home this year, but only 36.1 percent from the floor when playing on the road.
 
Additionally, Samford is shooting 7.3 percentage points better at home from 3-point range; 37.4 at home versus 30.1 on the road.
 
Samford fans are enjoying a much faster paced offense this season. With plenty of depth and a roster chalk-full of talented guards, the Bulldogs have been able to get up and down the court in 2014-15 and create easy buckets in transition.
 
Following Thursday's key SoCon contest at The Citadel, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their five-day, two-game road swing against the Wofford Terriers in a league test to be held at Johnson Arena in Spartanburg.

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