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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks for a sixth consecutive time Tuesday as the Bulldogs earned a difficult 77-71 decision in a battle of former Ohio Valley Conference rivals held at Pete Mathews Arena.
 
"We knew going into this game that Coach (James) Green's teams are always tough and that they were going to be hard to beat at their place," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "We knew it was going to be a battle and that they were always going to claw their way back into it. It was definitely going to be a 40-minute game and I thought our guys did a great job tonight to get the win."
 
With the victory, Samford (6-2) moved to 6-0 in its last six meeting against in-state opponents. The Bulldogs haven't been defeated by an in-state rival since Dec. 16, 2009.
 
Since 2006-07, Samford owns a 13-3 record against in-state opponents. The Bulldogs are currently in the midst of a six-game winning streak versus in-state opponents, which also includes victories against Auburn, 79-68, and Troy, 83-79.
 
Samford finished with three players in double figures Tuesday and was paced by Darius Jones-Gibson's 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' senior guard from Lexington, Kentucky, also finished a near-perfect 10-of-11 from the free-throw line and handed out four assists.
 
As a team, Samford was brilliant from the charity stripe shooting 87.5 percent. The Bulldogs connected on 28-of-32 attempts from the line, their best performance of the 2015-16 campaign.
 
Samford's Jamal Shabazz turned in his second straight top-notch offensive performance Tuesday as he finished with 13 points, four rebounds and a steal. The Bulldogs' native of Pflugerville, Texas, drained a key 3-point basket and finished 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.
 
Alex Peters came off the bench and turned in his best performance of the 2015-16 season. In only 18 minutes of playing time, Peters tallied 10 points and two rebounds, while notching a perfect 6-of-6 shooting performance from the charity stripe.
 
"I thought Alex Peters was just phenomenal tonight," Padgett said. "He came in and played with great energy. This was definitely a grow-up game for a lot of our players and you can see them start to gel as they continue to get experience. I also thought Matt Rose did a great job defensively tonight. He's been outstanding on the offensive end, but tonight he played with some maturity on the defensive end as well."
 
Jacksonville State (3-7), which hasn't defeated Samford since Jan. 7, 2006, was led in scoring by sophomore guard Malcolm Drumwright, who scored 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. He also proved to be one of three Gamecocks that knocked down a trio of 3-point baskets.
 
True freshman Christian Cunningham and Missouri transfer Cam Biedscheid both added 14 points apiece, while Jared Hamilton and Erik Durham chipped in with nine points each.
 
Samford led by as many as eight points in the first half, 21-13, with 9:53 remaining in the period, but the Gamecocks rallied late in the stanza to trim the Bulldogs' advantage to 37-34 at the intermission.
 
In the latter half of the second period, Jacksonville State trimmed Samford's lead to 59-58 at the 6:25 mark in the frame.
 
The Bulldogs then quickly used a pair of free throws from Jones-Gibson, a layup by Peters and two more free throws from Shabazz. Samford's Rose extended the Bulldogs' lead back up to eight points, 67-59, with 3:43 remaining in the game.
 
Down the stretch, Samford used its free-throw shooting prowess to keep the Gamecocks at bay en route to its 77-71 triumph.
 
"This was a huge bounce-back game for us after losing a tough one at Austin Peay on Saturday," said Padgett. "This was a great job to come on the road and get a good win against Jacksonville State. Let's face it. We've been on the road for a while and it can take a toll on you, but our guys fought though it and played with toughness tonight."
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 8 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Austin, Texas, for a nationally-televised contest against the Texas Longhorns. The game will be broadcast live on the Longhorn Network and will be held at the Frank Erwin Center.
 
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