Box Score
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SoCon Tournament Bracket

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- In Samford's 2015-16 regular-season finale Saturday, the Samford University basketball team came up short late in its upset bid of Southern Conference champion Chattanooga as the Mocs closed out their 77-66 home league victory on a 13-5 run in front of 5,564 fans at The McKenzie Arena. 
 
"I thought our guys worked their tails off today," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "We've been preaching defense all week long, and I know the score might not reflect it now after all of their late free throws, but we had nine straight stops there in the second half to get back in the game. Chattanooga was stuck on 59 for a long time, so ultimately I'm proud of our guys.
 
"I have to give all the credit in the world to UTC. They've had a great season and (Head) Coach (Mike) McCall and his staff have and players have really adjusted to having a new coach and they came out tonight and made the plays that they needed to make in order to win."
 
Samford (13-18, 4-14 SoCon) trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but rallied late in the second period to trim Chattanooga's (25-5, 14-3 SoCon) advantage to just three points, 64-61, with 3:09 left of the clock.
 
During the Bulldogs' comeback, Darius Jones-Gibson scored seven points, Wyatt Walker added four, senior Marcus Johnson drained a key 10-foot jumper and Jamal Shabazz and Christen Cunningham tallied fast-break buckets.
 
Samford's rally was predicated by stellar defense in its 2-3 zone as the Bulldogs were able to string together a number of stops throughout the run.
 
"I thought we did a great job of clawing back and actually cutting their lead to 64-61," Padgett said. "That was when they shot a 15-footer, which was challenged, but then they ended up getting the long rebound and got fouled. That was a key play and I don't think any of our guys did anything wrong, the ball just literally bounced perfectly for them and wrong for us."
 
At the 3:09 mark, with Samford only trailing Chattanooga by three points, the Bulldogs' defense forced Chuck Ester to take a 15-foot jumper with time running out on the shot clock. After the errant shot, the long rebound bounced directly into the waiting arms of the Mocs' Tre' McLean.
 
McLean was fouled by Walker, his fifth of the game, and then knocked down both of the free throws to extend Chattanooga's lead to 66-61 with 2:38 left to play.
 
McLean's offensive rebound and subsequent free throws started the Mocs' late run as they closed out the game on a 13-5 stretch and secured their 77-66 victory.
 
With the triumph, Chattanooga won the SoCon's regular-season title and secured the No. 1 seed in next week's postseason conference tournament. The Bulldogs finalized a spot in the No. 8-9 seed game Friday at 4 p.m. (CST) and will square off against VMI in the opening round of play.
 
On Feb. 20, Samford played host to VMI and earned a 73-67 victory at home in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The Bulldogs' Cunningham led all scorers with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, while adding two assists and two steals. Heading into the upcoming SoCon Tournament, Samford's sophomore point guard only needs two more helpers to become the first player in school history to register back-to-back seasons of at least 125 assists.
 
Jones-Gibson, Samford's senior guard from Lexington, Kentucky, and leading scorer for the Bulldogs added 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, while he finished a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
 
Matt Rose, Samford's 6-foot-7 freshman sharpshooter, added 14 points and a trio of 3-point baskets, but was held without a point in the final 20 minutes of action. He also added five rebounds and a pair of assists in 32 minutes of playing time.
 
The Bulldogs' Walker tallied seven points and four rebounds, while Marcus Johnson and Iman Johnson scored five and four points, respectively.
 
Chattanooga finished with five players scoring in double figures and were led by Eric Robertson's 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor. Ester added 12 points for the Mocs, while Dee Oldham scored 11 and Justin Tuoyo and McLean notched 10 points apiece.
 
Samford shot a game-high 48.1 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished Saturday's game with 16 miscues, as Chattanooga outscored Samford, 24-6, in points off turnovers.
 
The Mocs finished a sizzling 85.2 percent from the free-throw line and outscored the Bulldogs, 23-11, in bench points.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 4 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin play in the 2016 SoCon Tournament against the VMI Keydets in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, at U.S. Cellular Arena.

Box Score
Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Bracket