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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its third home game in six days Thursday as the Bulldogs square off against the Furman Paladins at 7 p.m. (CST) in a key Southern Conference contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford (11-12, 2-8 SoCon) heads into the matchup with hopes of putting an end to its current four-game losing streak. The Bulldogs are in the midst of their toughest stretch of the 2015-16 campaign and have suffered consecutive losses to VMI, UNCG, Chattanooga and Mercer. Samford's most recent win occurred Jan. 16, versus Western Carolina, 84-68.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• So far this season, Samford is 10-1 when leading at the half, but only 1-11 when trailing at the intermission.
• The Bulldogs are shooting 64.3 percent from the free-throw line at home this season. Conversely, Samford is shooting 74.3 percent from the charity stripe in road games.
• Senior guard Darius Jones-Gibson has already scored in double figures 17 times this season.
• Samford has made a 3-point basket in 745 straight games, dating all the way back to Jan. 19, 1991.
• Samford sophomore Christen Cunningham has started at the point guard position in all 55 games of his collegiate career.
• The Bulldogs have used the same starting lineup in 21 straight games this season, including 21 of their 23 contests.
• Samford is in the midst of a busy SoCon stretch in which the Bulldogs will play seven games in 15 days from Jan. 30 – Feb. 13.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Furman (13-10, 7-3 SoCon) enters Thursday's meeting as one of the hottest teams in the conference. The second-place Paladins have not been defeated since Jan. 16, and have rattled off consecutive victories against Wofford, VMI, Western Carolina and ETSU.
 
Furman prides itself in its defensive intensity this season and is ranked 24th in the nation in scoring defense. The Paladins are only allowing opponents to score an average of 63.9 points per game and currently boast the top defensive unit in the SoCon.
 
Individually, Furman's Stephen Croone is ranked No. 23 in the nation in free-throw attempts (160) and 25th in free throws made (122). The Paladins' senior guard is also leading the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game, despite only playing an average of 28.9 minutes per outing.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs will face Furman for the 20th time in school history Thursday as the teams conclude their annual home-and-home series in the Pete Hanna Center. Earlier this season, Samford and Furman met in Greenville, South Carolina, and the Paladins earned a 77-57 home victory held Jan. 11, in Timmons Arena. Last year, the Bulldogs won at home, 68-58.
 
THE PREVIOUS MATCHUP
On Jan. 11, Samford failed to have a player reach double figures in scoring for the only time this season as the Bulldogs dropped a 77-57 road decision against the Furman Paladins in a SoCon contest held at Timmons Arena.
 
Samford jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the contest, but then the Paladins used a 10-0 run to garner the momentum of the game and took an eventual 23-point lead at the half, 45-22. The Bulldogs only shot 30.4 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Furman turned in a 14-for-28 performance from the floor.
 
In the second half, Samford trimmed the Paladins' lead to 17 points at 50-33, but then Furman answered with an 8-0 run of its own and later took its largest advantage of the game, 68-40, with 9:29 left to play.
 
The Bulldogs would get no closer than 18 points for the remainder of the evening. The defeat proved to be Samford's first this season when following a loss.
 
Furman finished with five players scoring in double figures and were paced by Geoff Beans' 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Beans, the Paladins' sophomore native of Toledo, Ohio, also connected on 4-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
As a team, Furman shot 47.6 percent from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs finished 1-for-10 from downtown.
 
FROM BALL BOY TO DIVISION I CENTER
The Bulldogs' Eric Adams has been attending Samford basketball games for a long time now. His mother, Cassandra, is the Director of Samford's Community Mediation Center and had been working in the University's prestigious Cumberland School of Law for over a decade.
 
Ever since he was in grade school, Adams remembers attending Samford games with his mother and father, Eric, Sr. He also served as one of the Bulldogs' ball boys for a few seasons. Already this year, Adams has started in games against Louisville and Auburn-Montgomery, and has earned playing time in all 23 games.
 
TRANSITIONING OFFENSE - - BULLDOGS TAKE IT TO HYPERDRIVE
Samford fans have been able to enjoy a much faster paced offense this season. With plenty of depth and a roster chalk-full of young talent, the Bulldogs are getting up and down the court in 2015-16 and creating easy buckets in transition.
 
In 2014-15, Head Coach Scott Padgett implemented his full-court, fast-paced offensive attack and Samford averaged 69.2 points per game. Already this year, the Bulldogs are scoring 73.1 points per outing.
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Samford freshman Wyatt Walker was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Jan. 19 for his performance during all games played Jan. 12-18, the league office announced. Walker averaged 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds and shot 75 percent from the field as Samford split a pair of games, falling to ETSU (81-77) before topping Western Carolina (84-68).
 
Walker started both games at center for Samford and finished the week with a 75-percent shooting mark from the field. He also grabbed two steals, blocked a shot and handed out an assist.
 
Against Western Carolina on Jan. 16, Walker lifted the Bulldogs to a key 84-68 victory as he turned in the best game of his young, up-and-coming career by registering personal-bests at the time in points (26), rebounds (12) and field goals (11).
 
#FOE = FAMILY OVER EVERYTHING
Since taking over as head coach in 2014, 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 LAST TIME OUT - - MERCER RIDES HOT SHOOTING TO 85-70 WIN OVER BULLDOGS
Samford turned in a respectable 49.1-percent shooting tally from the field Monday, but the Mercer Bears held the trump card in a SoCon showdown held at the Pete Hanna Center as they used a 57.9-percent shooting total from the floor en route to an 85-70 victory. The Bears also shot a sizzling 8-of-16 from 3-point range.
 
With the loss, Samford suffered its fourth-consecutive defeat and moved to 5-4 at home this season. The Bulldogs are in the midst of an arduous four-game homestand in which they face four of the top five teams listed in the current conference standings.
 
Mercer moved into a tie for second place with Furman in the league standings and used the victory to extend its winning streak to three-consecutive games. The Bears also swept the annual home-and-home series against Samford and improved to 62-46 all-time versus the Bulldogs.
 
Mercer's duo of Jestin Lewis and Stephon Jelks combined to score 46 of the Bears' 85 total points. Lewis exploded for 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, while Jelks added 20 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Lewis, Mercer's 6-foot-1 senior guard from Richmond, Virginia, registered a 9-of-12 shooting performance from the field.
 
Samford also finished with three players scoring in double figures. Jones-Gibson led the way with 17 points and seven assists, while shooting 7-of-10 from the field. He also pulled down three rebounds and grabbed a steal. Fellow senior Jamal Shabazz continued his string of solid games for the Bulldogs by scoring 15 points and adding eight rebounds.
 
Samford's talented forward from Pflugerville, Texas, also drained a pair of 3-point baskets and blocked two shots. Marcus Johnson came off the bench for the Bulldogs and tallied 11 points and two rebounds.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Thursday's contest against Furman, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their four-game SoCon homestand against the Wofford Terriers. The matchup will be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
SATURDAY'S ACADEMY ADMIT FOUR GAMES
Samford's Academy Admit Four Games for both men's and women's basketball will take place Saturday. The men are scheduled to tip off at noon versus Wofford, while the women tip off at 3 p.m. against Western Carolina.
 
Fans can also pick up your Academy Admit Four Voucher at any Birmingham area Academy Sports and Outdoors store location – Hoover, Lee Branch, or Trussville. The voucher is good for both the men's and the women's games on Saturday. No purchase is necessary and you must exchange your voucher at the third floor ticket window for your game day tickets!
 
For any questions or additional information, please contact the Samford Ticket Office at 205-726-DOGS or visit samfordsports.com/tickets.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordHoopsFOE and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

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