Live Video            Live Audio
Live Stats             Game Notes

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Samford University basketball team will attempt to register its longest winning streak of the 2014-15 season Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs take their current four-game triumphant stretch against the homestanding ETSU Buccaneers in a pivotal Southern Conference matchup to be held at Freedom Hall.
 
Samford (11-14, 4-8 SoCon) enters Saturday's showdown with a full head of steam after earning a thrilling 76-72 come-from-behind triumph at Western Carolina on Thursday.
 
In the Bulldogs' first all-time win at the Ramsey Center, Samford overcame a 21-point deficit and used a clutch game-winning 3-point basket from Tyler Hood to claim the victory.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Despite trailing by 21 points midway through the second half, Samford embarked upon a 24-2 run that encompassed four minutes and 24 seconds late in the game and stunned Western Carolina in a huge SoCon 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.
 
With the triumph, Samford 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 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.
 
Samford held multiple leads down the stretch, but Western Carolina continued to answer with key buckets of its own.
 
Trailing by a point, 72-71, the Bulldogs initiated their 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.
 
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' 76-72 victory.
 
ETSU (13-9, 6-6 SoCon) suffered a 74-64 home loss to Wofford on Thursday and dropped its third-consecutive league matchup dating back to Jan. 22 and a home win against The Citadel, 70-59.
 
The Buccaneers enter Saturday's game ranked second in the conference in scoring with an average of 75.4 points per outing.
 
ETSU is shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc this season and is connecting on 9.9 3-point baskets per game. The Buccaneers are also ranked second in the SoCon in each of the aforementioned statistical categories and currently sits in fourth place in the league standings.
 
Offensively, ETSU is being paced by Jalen Riley's 19.7 points per contest this season. Riley is currently ranked first in the conference in scoring.
 
The Bulldogs have never defeated ETSU and are 0-4 against the Buccaneers. The all-time series between the teams started in 1979, but the rivalry took a 33-year hiatus from 1980 until Nov. 21, 2013, when Samford dropped an 89-75 decision in the most recent meeting held in Johnson City, Tennessee. Earlier this year, ETSU?won at Samford, 76-74.
 
THE LAST TIME AROUND
With two seconds remaining in Samford's first contest against ETSU on Jan. 5, the Bulldogs' 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 the 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.
 
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.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford's Jones-Gibson is ranked ninth in the nation with 165 free-throw attempts this season.
• On Thursday, the Bulldogs won at Western Carolina, 76-72, to earn their first road SoCon victory in over a year, dating back to Feb. 3, 2014, with a 76-68 win at Furman.
• The Bulldogs' Hood is shooting a brilliant 93.8 percent (30-of-32) from the free-throw line.
• Hood has connected on 17 straight free throws dating back to Dec. 28 versus Campbell.
 
IT'S GOTTA BE THE SHOES
Two weekends ago, the Samford coaching staff wore its white Nike Air Jordans for the annual Coaches versus Cancer Awareness event and the Bulldogs picked up a pair of SoCon victories against UNCG and Western Carolina.
 
Since then, Samford's coaching staff has continued to wear its sneakers in additional wins against Furman and Western Carolina, and will continue to wear them until the Bulldogs' winning streak ends.
 
#FOE = FAMILY OVER EVERYTHING
Since taking over as head coach in June, Samford's Scott Padgett has coined the phrase "FOE" as his biggest mantra of the Bulldogs' basketball program. FOE stands for Family Over Everything and has truly resonated with Samford's players ... old and new.
 
"I don't really invent a lot of things, but I've worked under a lot of great coaches and have been around a lot of great people," said Padgett. "My former teammate and boss, Steve Masiello, came up with the saying Team Over Everything, and I kind of liked it, but at Kentucky it was all about Family. So, I kind of combined those two concepts and now we have Family Over Everything (#FOE).
 
"I really believe that this team is a family and that goes with everybody's extended families, as well as the staff and everybody involved with Samford basketball."
 
THE POWER OF 10
Samford was picked 10th in the preseason SoCon rankings on Oct. 15, and the Bulldogs have been using that last-place prediction as fuel and motivation for the 2014-15 campaign.
 
"We're definitely using it as motivation," said Hood. "We have big 10s plastered all over the locker room, so it's a constant reminder for us and we take that extra motivation into every practice. Every day, we strive to be competitive and to push each other to get better in each and every practice. Ultimately, we go out every day with plans of being the best that we can possibly be."
 
Following Saturday's key SoCon test at ETSU, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Alabama for a momentous league game against The Citadel Bulldogs to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

Live Video            Live Audio
Live Stats             Game Notes