Box Score
Updated StatsTALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Samford University basketball team closed out Saturday's road contest against the Florida A&M Rattlers with a 35-16 run to pull away for an 86-67 victory in a non-conference matchup held at the Alfred Lawson, Jr. Multipurpose Center.
"In the first half, when we got out to the early lead, it was because of great defensive effort and sharing the ball," said Samford head coach
Scott Padgett. "Then, when we got up, the ball stopped moving, Florida A&M hit a few big shots and their energy on the bench improved. When we made our late run to get the big lead back, it was the same thing over again. We played with great defensive effort and started to share the ball again."
With the win,
Samford (7-3) moved to 3-3 in true road games this season and closed out its seven-game stretch away from home with a 5-2 record. Two of the Bulldogs' victories during the streak were held in neutral settings against Troy and Idaho.
Samford will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center for a huge in-state matchup with the South Alabama Jaguars.
Four Samford players scored in double figures Saturday against
Florida A&M (3-7). The Bulldogs'
Christen Cunningham tallied a game-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, while
Matt Rose followed with a career-high 17 points on a 5-of-9 performance from the floor.
Rose, Samford's talented true freshman from Lexington, Kentucky, also notched a career-high with four 3-point baskets, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Darius Jones-Gibson added 12 points, four rebounds and a trio of assists for the Bulldogs on Saturday. He also led the team with three steals.
Senior guard
Marcus Johnson finished with 11 points and didn't miss a single shot from the field. The Bulldogs' speedy native of Washington, D.C., turned in an unblemished 4-of-4 outing from the floor, a 3-of-3 performance from 3-point range and pulled down four rebounds.
Samford jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead Saturday and garnered an early 27-6 advantage by forcing the Rattlers into six initial turnovers.
With 7:58 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs built a 31-14 lead following a 14-foot jumper from senior forward
Iman Johnson.
Florida A&M's Justin Ravenal drained a game-high six 3-point field goals and scored 18 points. All of his points came from beyond the arc. Late in the first half, Ravenal knocked down a trio of long-range baskets and helped momentarily shift the momentum to the Rattlers.
Behind Ravenal's hot shooting, Florida A&M closed out the first half on a 13-5 run, but Samford took a 45-37 advantage into the intermission.
"We just weren't able to step on their throats early in the game and then they were able to get some momentum by knocking down some shots," Padgett said. "I love how we were able to take a blow and we could have folded, and maybe even would have last year, but we didn't and then we were able to go on our late run."
The Rattlers continued their streak early in the second period and trimmed the Bulldogs' lead to 52-51 with 14:48 remaining in the game. With Florida A&M's valiant start to the final half, the Rattlers' run improved to 28-11.
"I'll take the blame for their run there midway through the game," said Padgett. "It was one of those things where we got out to the big lead early and I've been trying to get some of the younger guys into the game. I had some lineups in there that hadn't really played much together and then we had some fouls on some key guys, so that stalled our momentum."
At that point, Samford used a jumper from
Alex Peters, a drive from Jones-Gibson and a pair of 3-pointers from
Jamal Shabazz to embark upon a huge 22-6 run.
The Bulldogs continued to pull away late in the half and eventually tallied their 86-67 victory.
"We did a great job down the stretch of getting stop after stop," said Padgett. "We also did a great job of rebounding and that's what you need to do sometimes to get the win."
Samford shot a sizzling 58.8 percent from the floor and 50 percent (11-of-22) from beyond the arc.
With their performance, the Bulldogs extended their 3-point shooting streak to 732, dating back to Jan. 19, 1991.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the South Alabama Jaguars for the first time Jan. 31, 1976. The contest will be held at Samford's Pete Hanna Center.
"We're really looking forward to a home game," Padgett said. "Hopefully, we can have a great crowd there. South Alabama is a good team and it's going to be an in-state rivalry game. They are a very good program and we're looking forward to getting back to the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center."
Friday's game will also be a "$1 High School Night". All high school students can show their school I.D. and get in for just $1. Also, starting at 6:30 p.m., the first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free Samford Athletics Tacky Christmas t-shirt. Pick yours up on the concourse on top of Section Q.
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