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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Samford's Wyatt Walker scored a career-high 30 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field Thursday and sophomore Christen Cunningham added 26 for the Bulldogs, but the homestanding ETSU Buccaneers held off a furious second-half rally to hold on for a 94-90 victory held at the Freedom Hall Assembly Center.
 
"I thought our effort in the second half and overtime was phenomenal," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "In the first half, that extra effort that we needed to have, was just not there. We gave up way too many open 3s in the first half and that's why we were down by 11 points at halftime."
 
Samford (12-15, 3-11 SoCon) trailed by 11 points at halftime, 44-33, as ETSU (16-9, 9-3 SoCon) turned in a sizzling 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) shooting performance from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Bulldogs competed well in the first half, but couldn't maintain the same shooting pace as the Bucs in their first home game since Jan. 23.
 
Early in the second stanza, Samford quickly trimmed ETSU's advantage to 46-43 behind a 10-2 run to open the period. During the Bulldogs' run, Walker scored six points, Cunningham knocked down a mid-range jumper and freshman Matt Rose swished a pair of free throws.
 
"We force-fed Wyatt on purpose tonight and that worked out good, because he's been playing extremely well lately and we can't have his only touches come on offensive rebounds and called plays," Padgett said. "He was unstoppable tonight with 30 points and we needed to keep feeding him the ball."
 
Walker turned in a stellar 12-of-14 performance from the free-throw line, pulled down eight rebounds and handed out an assist.
 
Samford continued its second-half run three minutes later by taking the lead, 52-51, at the 13:34 point in the period.
 
At the 8:29 mark, the Buccaneers built their advantage back to 10 points, 67-57, following a pair of free throws from T.J. Cromer and a layup from Peter Jurkin. ETSU's Cromer finished with 17 points and six rebounds, while Cincinnati transfer Ge'Lawn Guyn paced the squad with 25 points, including a 5-of-7 performance from 3-point range.
 
The Bulldogs proved to have one more run in them down the stretch as they embarked upon a 13-5 run to cut the Buccaneers' late advantage to 72-70 with 4:05 left to play. Cunningham scored eight of Samford's points during the streak, while Walker notched the other five.
 
"I thought CC was very aggressive tonight and did a great job of getting the other guys involved," said Padgett. "He kept feeding the ball into Wyatt a lot and that helped him get in position to make those moves down low."
 
With 1:34 left in the game, the Bulldogs' Walker scored on back-to-back nifty post moves to even the score at 79-79.
 
ETSU's Lester Hudson missed a deep 3-pointer at the 30-second mark in regulation as Samford grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with :22.8 ticks left on the clock.
 
On the Bulldogs' final possession, Cunningham worked the ball in to Walker on the left block, but Petey McClain read the play and tallied a steal to send the game into overtime.
 
"On that last play in overtime, I probably should have called in a different play with some more movement," said Padgett. "I wanted to get the ball in Wyatt's hands, because he was making free throws, playing strong and I knew that if they came with a double team that he's a great passer and would find the open guy."
 
In overtime, Guyn scored five straight points, including a key 3-point basket to take a critical lead. Samford would later cut the advantage down to two a few times, but Guyn notched four straight free throws down the stretch to hang on for the 94-90 victory.
 
"We relaxed on a play in overtime and Ge'Lawn Guyn cashed it out," said Padgett. "They have a lot of good shooters on their team and they do what good shooters do. They knock down open shots. Guyn's 3 proved to be the key play in overtime, because it allowed them to maintain that five-point lead to where we had to keep fouling them in the final minute."
 
Both teams tallied 32 points in the paint Thursday, while Samford outscored the Buccaneers in points-off turnovers, 17-10. ETSU finished 11-of-20 from 3-point range for a final 55-percent outing.
 
"We can't keep giving up open looks on 3-pointers to their best shooters," Padgett said. "They had three guys on their team that we didn't even want them to attempt a single 3-point shot. They are going to shoot them anyway, but at least if you challenge them, they might miss some.
 
The Bulldogs' loss occurred in only its second overtime game of the season, while the Buccaneers tallied their third-consecutive overtime victory at home.
 
Samford's Marcus Johnson tallied nine points and four rebounds Thursday, while Darius Jones-Gibson notched five points, three rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes of playing time. Jamal Shabazz and Alex Peters both finished with four points apiece.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their late-season, three-game road swing against the Western Carolina Catamounts in a crucial league matchup to be held at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
 
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