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LEXINGTON, Va. -- Despite trailing by 11 points early in the second half Thursday against the VMI Keydets, the Samford University basketball team battled back to within one point, 77-76, at the 1:03 mark in the Southern Conference contest, but couldn't get any closer as Julian Eleby scored four straight points and QJ Peterson added a bucket in an 83-76 setback held at Cameron Hall.
 
"VMI did everything that they were supposed to do tonight, but our effort was just pathetic," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "Our offense wasn't the issue tonight. If our defense was where it was supposed to be, we would have scored 90 tonight, because we would have gotten stops and gotten more in transition, but when they're scoring 83, then they are always set, because they're always scoring."
 
With the loss, Samford (11-9, 2-5 SoCon) continued its road woes in league play this season and moved to 0-4 in away SoCon games. The Bulldogs will conclude their two-game weekend road trip Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) against UNCG.
 
VMI (6-11, 1-5 SoCon) tallied its first conference victory of the season Thursday and improved to 5-2 when playing at home under the direction of first-year head coach Dan Earl.
 
"This is the first time I can say this since I've been the coach here at Samford, but I was embarrassed to have been the coach tonight," Padgett said. "The effort was pathetic. I want to keep it as real as real can be, VMI did what they needed to do tonight to win and they made their shots, but we came into tonight's game and we told our team two specific things. You have to guard the 3-point shot and you have to guard Eleby and QJ Peterson."
 
VMI's Peterson and Eleby combined to score 63 of the team's 83 points and accounted for 21 of 28 field goals in the win. The Keydets finished shooting 46.7 percent from the field Thursday and 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Peterson, VMI's talented junior Preseason All-SoCon performer, scored a game-high 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the floor, while adding a career-high 8-of-14 performance from 3-point range. He also added five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Peterson scored 22 points in the first half to help build the Keydets' 45-37 lead at the intermission.
 
VMI's Eleby scored 29 points, grabbed five rebounds and finished a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
 
"This whole league's gotten better," said Padgett. "This is definitely the most talented that it's been in the three years since I've been here and there's a reason that is was ranked 30^th a few years ago and now it's at No. 16. When you go on the road, no matter who it is, if you don't bring it, you're going to get your butt kicked."
 
Samford concluded Thursday's game with four players scoring in double figures. Senior guard Darius Jones-Gibson led the way with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, but committed three turnovers and shot 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.
 
Wyatt Walker, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, overcame early foul trouble to score 13 points and grab seven rebounds, while sophomore point guard Christen Cunningham and senior guard Marcus Johnson both tallied 10 points apiece.
 
Samford shot a sizzling 56.3 percent from 3-point range Thursday, but committed 15 turnovers and allowed the Keydets to outscore the Bulldogs, 20-5, in second-chance points. VMI pulled down 16 offensive rebounds and won the battle of the boards, 37-34.
 
"Tonight, VMI did what they are supposed to do," Padgett said. "But this is a team that had been getting out-rebounded by eight. This is a team that has been scoring 66 per game and has been getting defeated by an average of 22 in league play. What you have to do against teams like this is you can't give them any confidence. You have to come right out and jump on their throat."
 
The Bulldogs outscored the Keydets, 39-38, but couldn't overcome a lackluster defensive performance in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
"After VMI got going in the first half by knocking down some wide open shots, they were able to hit some tough ones late in the game," said Padgett. "This is very disappointing for me because 76 points should have been enough to win this game if we would have guarded at all. We're not good enough offensively to just no-show on the defensive end of the court."
 
Samford's scoring Thursday was rounded out by Matt Rose (9), Jamal Shabazz (8), Iman Johnson (7) and Dakota Quinn (2).
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their two-game weekend SoCon road trip against the UNCG Spartans in a contest to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
 
"UNCG is a very talented team," said Padgett. "They have four or five guys that can go and score 20 points in a night and they are a very, very good offensive team. If we give the effort that we gave tonight, we won't just lose, we'll lose by a lot."
 
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