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CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Despite trailing by 21 points midway through the second half Thursday, the Samford University basketball team embarked upon a 24-2 run that encompassed four minutes and 24 seconds late in the game and stunned the Western Carolina Catamounts in a huge Southern Conference victory, 76-72, held at the Ramsey Center.
 
The win proved to be the Bulldogs' first triumph at Western Carolina, ending a seven-game losing streak at the Ramsey Center.
 
"We made it interesting, but this was a huge win for us," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "When we were down 21, I honestly wasn't sure if we could do it, but then I put Emeka (Ikezu) in the game to make a point and he ended up scoring on a layup off a set play and it seemed to spark the team. Our team got a lift from that and from that point on it was a different Samford team playing out there."
 
With the triumph, Samford (11-14, 4-8 SoCon) extended its winning streak to four-consecutive games and moved into a tie for seventh place in the current league standings along with VMI.
 
The Bulldogs' brilliant 24-2 run was sparked by two early 3-pointers from Tyler Hood, as well as eight quick points from Christen Cunningham. Samford's Michael Bradley also scored on a right-handed layup, while true freshman Evan Taylor drilled a deep 3-point basket from the right flank.
 
"I want to give (Assistant Coach) Jake (Headrick) a lot of credit," said Padgett. "During our run, he suggested that we run a certain play and they really had a hard time defending it. Therefore, we ran in almost exclusively down the stretch and it helped us keep the momentum going. Our guys did an outstanding job of executing out of it and I think it proved to be the difference."
 
At exactly 5:13 in the second half, the Bulldogs garnered their first lead of the period as Cunningham drained a pair of free throws to make the Samford advantage, 60-59.
 
"We were able to get five or six steals from the press, but we were also able to speed up their offense and keep them out of their comfort zone," Padgett said. "Offensively, I thought that Christen just turned into a different player there during the run. He tallied 12 points and five assists in the second half and was a huge difference-maker in the game."
 
In the final five minutes of action, there were nine lead changes as the SoCon foes battled tooth-and-nail to win Thursday's contest.
 
Samford held multiple leads down the stretch, but Western Carolina (11-13, 6-6 SoCon) continued to answer with key buckets of its own.
 
In the final minute, the Bulldogs' Bradley slammed home a thunderous two-handed dunk off a fast break to give Samford a 68-67 advantage with just 53 seconds remaining. The 6-foot-10 senior center from Chattanooga, Tennessee, finished the game with eight points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
Following Bradley's late heroics, Western Carolina answered with a huge play of its own as Torrion Browning connected on an up-and-under layup.
 
The next time down the court for Samford, Hood knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game, but the Catamounts' Justin Browning converted a three-point play to give homestanding Western Carolina a 72-71 advantage with just 12 seconds remaining.
 
On the Bulldogs' last full possession of the game, Cunningham gathered the inbounds pass at midcourt, worked his way down the right side of the lane and kicked out a pass to Hood in the left corner.
 
Hood collected the ball with approximately six seconds remaining. He pump-faked and allowed one Catamount defender to fly past him, then he stepped back behind the 3-point line and drained the game-winning basket with just two seconds left to play.
 
"Tyler made some huge shot for us down the stretch," Padgett said. "That last one that gave us the lead came off a play that I'd wanted to run since I started coaching in college. It was a play that the Spurs used to run and Brent Barry would be the guy who would get the shot from over in that corner. Tyler knocked down the shot and it turned out to be the game-winner."

Western Carolina would turn the ball over on its final possession as Cunningham connected on a pair of late free throws to secure the Bulldogs' 74-72 victory.

"I'm proud of these guys," Padgett said. "They really showed me something tonight. We also came back against Furman on Saturday, but there was a lot of time left in that game. Today, I just told them to get this thing to under 10 points by the eight-minute mark and they ended up getting it to nine. These guys have a lot of heart and I'm really proud of them."
 
Cunningham, Samford's talented true freshman point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, finished with 12 points, five assists and four steals in 32 minutes of action. All 12 of his points came in the second half as he proved to be a huge catalyst in the Bulldogs' victory.
 
Samford's Darius Jones-Gibson and Hood led the team in scoring with 18 points apiece. Jones-Gibson finished 5-of-8 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed four rebounds and played a team-high 34 minutes.
 
Hood moved into sole possession of 19^th place on Samford's all-time scoring list Thursday and turned in a 6-of-15 shooting performance from the field. After an 0-for-4 start from 3-point range to open the game, Hood found his mark in the second frame and finished 4-of-6 in the final period.
 
The Bulldogs' Taylor played another solid game Thursday and tallied nine points, five rebounds and a steal in only 22 minutes of action.
 
Samford shot a sizzling 61.5 percent from the field in the second stanza, including a 55.6-percent mark from 3-point range. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting barely better than the Catamounts from the floor, 46.9 percent to 46.6 percent.
 
Samford is now 9-2 on the season when shooting better than its opponent.
 
Thursday's victory proved to be the Bulldogs' first road SoCon triumph in over a year. Last season, Samford picked up its lone league road victory of the season at Furman on Feb. 3, 76-68.
 
Western Carolina's James Sinclair led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He also grabbed three rebounds in 37 minutes of playing time.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their two-game weekend road swing in Johnson City, Tennessee, for a date with the ETSU Buccaneers to be held in Freedom Hall.

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