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Live Stats Game NotesASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin play in the 2015 Southern Conference Tournament Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs square off against the UNCG Spartans in a first-round contest to be held at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Samford (13-18) enters the matchup with a full head of steam after earning a historic 80-69 road victory at VMI on Saturday. The Bulldogs' win was their first in Lexington, Virginia, in over 48 years, dating back to Feb. 24, 1967.
Samford's 2014-15 season has encompassed winning streaks of four and five games, but has also included losing trends of three, six and four-game stretches. The Bulldogs own a 5-12 record when playing away from home this season.
THE LAST TIME OUTSamford earned its biggest SoCon road victory in over two years Saturday as the Bulldogs shot their way to an 80-69 triumph against the VMI Keydets in the team's first all-time game played at Cameron Hall.
With the 11-point victory, Samford concluded its 2014-15 campaign with a 4-11 record on the road. The Bulldogs' 80-69 win also equaled the program's best SoCon road victory since defeating Furman, 64-53, in Greenville, North Carolina, on Feb. 16, 2013.
Samford's triumph was attributed to the stellar play of true freshman
Christen Cunningham and senior
Tyler Hood. Cunningham scored a career-high 22 points against VMI and turned in a solid 10-of-16 shooting performance from the field. Additionally, Cunningham grabbed five rebounds, handed out four assists and tallied a steal.
Hood provided the late daggers for Samford as the 6-foot-6 senior sharpshooter scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half and drained three late 3-pointers.
Hood, the Bulldogs' talented native of Lenoir City, Tennessee, scored all 13 of his second-half points in the final 6:28 of the game and propelled Samford from a two-point lead, 59-57, to a 13-point lead, 76-63. Hood ignited the Bulldogs' late run as Samford closed out the game on a 21-12 streak to secure its momentous victory.
Samford finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from 3-point range. VMI tallied a 47.3 mark from the floor, but finished a lackluster 25.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Keydets, 35-29, and forced VMI into 22 turnovers.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTUNCG (10-21) heads into the SoCon Tournament with a bad taste in its mouth after suffering a heartbreaking 61-58 buzzer-beating loss at home to Chattanooga on Saturday. The Mocs' Ronrico White drained a controversial last-second, 3-point basket to hand the Spartans their regular-season ending defeat to keep UNCG from earning the No. 6 seed and a first-round bye.
The Spartans enter Friday's game as one of the top rebounding teams in the conference. The Spartans are averaging 34.5 rebounds per contest this year and are ranked No. 61 in the nation in the category. Sophomore center R.J. White is pulling down an average of 7.1 rebounds per game this season and is also scoring 12 points per outing.
UNCG boasts four players averaging double figures in scoring this season and are being led by Tevon Saddler's 13.6 points per contest. Saddler earned Third-Team All-SoCon honors Tuesday.
SAMFORD vs. UNCG: THE FACTSJust eight days ago in Greensboro, North Carolina, Samford dropped an 81-67 decision to UNCG as the teams finished the season's home-and-home series with a 1-1 record. The Bulldogs and Spartans each won on their home court as Samford earned an 89-78 win at the Pete Hanna Center on Jan. 22. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series between the teams, 9-6.
IN THE LAST MEETINGThe Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and only trailed UNCG by three points, 36-33, at the intermission. Samford drained five 3-point baskets in the opening 20 minutes of play and were led by Cunningham's nine first-half points.
UNCG opened the second half with a momentum-shifting dunk from Saddler and would later use a 3-point play from White to build a 43-36 advantage with 17:06 left to play.
Just moments later, the Bulldogs' Cunningham knocked down a running eight-foot jumper and senior Hood drained a deep 3-point basket to trim the Spartans' lead to 43-41 with 16:08 to play. It was then that UNCG used a pivotal 26-6 run to build its largest lead of the night at the 7:14 mark, 69-47.
During the Spartans' key, game-changing run, senior sharpshooter Nicholas Paulos scored all 11 of his points and became UNCG's 21
st player in school history to reach the 1,000-plateau.
Samford tried to mount a rally in the final seven minutes of the game, but could get no closer than 11 points down, 73-62, with 2:52 left to play following a jumper from
Brandon Roberts.
RUNDOWN OF SAMFORD'S SOCON TOURNAMENT HISTORY The Bulldogs joined the SoCon in 2008 and will be playing in their seventh SoCon Tournament this season. Samford owns a 3-6 all-time record in the SoCon Tournament and will be facing UNCG for the first time in postseason play.
Last year, the Bulldogs defeated Appalachian State in the opening round of the tournament, 70-56, but then fell to top-seeded Davidson in the second round, 77-54.
Samford, heading into the 2015 SoCon Tournament, holds the following records against league foes: Furman (1-3), The Citadel (1-1), Chattanooga (0-1), Appalachian State (1-0) and Davidson (0-1).
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .• Samford owns a 3-6 all-time record in SoCon Tournament play and has NEVER faced UNCG in the postseason.
• Last year, Samford defeated Appalachian State in the first round of the annual SoCon Tournament, but lost to Davidson in the quarterfinals.
• On Tuesday, the Bulldogs'
Darius Jones-Gibson earned Third-Team All-SoCon honors.
• Samford's Cunningham and
Evan Taylor were both named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.
• The Bulldogs' Hood is ranked No. 16 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,156 points.
CUNNINGHAM & TAYLOR EARN ALL-FRESHMAN HONORSSamford's Cunningham and Taylor were both honored as two of the best freshmen in the SoCon by the league's media Tuesday. Additionally, Cunningham was named to the five-member all-freshman team by the SoCon coaches.
A native of Georgetown, Kentucky, Cunningham finished the regular season as the league's top-ranked freshmen in points per game, total points, steals, assists, free-throw percentage, minutes per game and total minutes. He also received a league-best five SoCon Player of the Week honors and averaged 10.3 points per game.
Taylor garnered SoCon All-Freshman honors this season after averaging 6.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has also started in 14 SoCon contests for Samford and is averaging 22 minutes per outing.
BULLDOGS' "DJG" MAKING WAVES IN THE SOCONSamford's Jones-Gibson, the Bulldogs' explosive junior guard from Lexington, Kentucky, was voted to the third team by the SoCon Sports Media Association on Tuesday. Jones-Gibson finished the regular season as Samford's leading scorer with an average of 11.9 points per game. He also tallied 3.1 rebounds per contest and handed out 69 assists.
HOOD REACHES HISTORIC 1,000-POINT PLATEAUSamford's Hood scored six points at The Citadel on Jan. 8 to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau in his career. With the achievement, he became just the 24th player in the Bulldogs' illustrious 113-year history to reach the milestone. He enters Saturday's contest with 1,156 career points.
Hood is averaging 11.0 points per game this season and has already moved into the No. 16 position on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list.
CUNNINGHAM EARNS FIFTH SOCON FRESHMAN ACCOLADE For an unprecedented fifth time this season, Samford's Cunningham was named the CRONS SoCon Freshman of the Week on Monday after he averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game last week in tough road tests at UNCG and VMI.
NEXT UPThe winner of Friday's SoCon Tournament first-round matchup will advance to face top-seeded Wofford on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CDT). The Bulldogs lost a pair of games against Wofford this season, but played the Terriers close in each contest, falling just 68-65 at home on Jan. 3 and 72-62 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Jan. 10.
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