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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team missed a pair of crucial free throws in the final 35 seconds of play Thursday, including the front end of a one-and-one, as the Bulldogs suffered a heartbreaking 67-65 Southern Conference setback against the Furman Paladins in a late-season league contest held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"We have to get our confidence up somehow, and the only way that I know how to do it is what I did as a player," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "When I missed free throws, I got in the gym and I shot 500 every day until the next game. That's the only way to get through it. You have to work at it. Sitting in the locker room playing Xbox or PlayStation, or whatever we're doing in our free time that's keeping us out of the gym, doesn't win any games.
 
"There's only one way to get through this slump and that's to work through it. We need extra work shooting free throws, extra work watching video and working hard in practice, which we've actually done a pretty good job of this last week. When you're in a slump, you don't need less, you need more."
 
With the loss, Samford (11-13, 2-9 SoCon) moved to 5-5 at home this season. The Bulldogs also dropped their fifth straight decision in conference play, dating back to Jan. 16. Samford is in the midst of a busy stretch, which includes seven games in 15 days.
 
On Saturday, the Bulldogs will conclude their four-game homestand at noon (CST) against Wofford. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
Furman (14-10, 8-3 SoCon) tallied its third road victory of the season Thursday and extended its winning streak to five-consecutive games. The Paladins moved into sole possession of second place in the conference standings and have not been defeated since Jan. 16.
 
With exactly seven minutes remaining in the second half, Samford's Darius Jones-Gibson scored on a swerving, off-balance layup to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the game at 58-50.
 
Furman then used a free throw from John Davis III and five straight points from All-SoCon First-Team performer Stephen Croone to trim Samford's advantage to 58-56 with 4:55 left to play.
 
From that time until 20 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs' lead continued to hover between the four and one-point margins. Samford's Christen Cunningham scored on a driving layup at 1:29 to give his squad a 64-61 lead.
 
The Bulldogs then forced Croone into a turnover and the teams exchanged missed shots until the 35-second mark. At that point, Croone immediately fouled Jones-Gibson and sent him to the free-throw line to shoot one-and-one.
 
Jones-Gibson, a 70.2-percent free-throw shooter heading into the game, had his attempt rim out and the Paladins' Geoff Beans grabbed the rebound.
 
"The realistic thing is, we had a three-point lead at the front end of the one-and-one," Padgett said. "If we make two, the ball game is over. Then, we came down with a one-point lead and if we would have made two, then a 3-point basket doesn't beat us. It's one of those things where we can't make those kind of costly mistakes late in a game. Not only just the free throws, but on the defensive end as well."
 
Furman then scored on a layup from Croone and was fouled by Alex Peters for a possible three-point play. At the line with a chance to tie the score at 64-64, Croone missed his free throw and Samford's Matt Rose pulled down the rebound.
 
Rose connected on his first free-throw attempt, but missed the second to make the score 65-63 in the Bulldogs' favor.
 
On the ensuing possession, Furman's Matt Rafferty gathered a pass at the top of the key and connected on a 3-point basket to give the Paladins their decisive 66-65 lead. After a Samford miss on the other end, Rafferty made a free throw with seven seconds remaining to make the final score, 67-65.
 
"At the end of the day, a guy who shot 7-of-28 from 3-point range coming into today, beat us with a 3," Padgett said. "He normally shoots about one a game and makes one every three games, but that's why we needed to make our free throws and put them away. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us because we're on a losing streak and nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We're going to have to take it, and for 39 minutes tonight we took it, but then we ended up giving it away in the final minute."
 
The Bulldogs' Cunningham drove the lane with only a second left on the clock, but couldn't draw the late foul despite plenty of contact from his Furman counterparts.
 
Rafferty led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and added four assists and a pair of steals. Croone chipped in with 13 points for the Paladins as the only other Furman player in double figures.
 
Samford's Marcus Johnson led the Bulldogs with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Jones-Gibson followed closely with 15 points, five assists and finished 6-of-13 from the floor. Rose, Samford's talented true freshman from Lexington, Kentucky, notched seven points and nine rebounds.
 
"Marcus stepped up and had a really good game for us," said Padgett. "He was active defensively and he made some shots. We need him to play like that. The realistic thing is that we only have three healthy guards on the roster right now.
 
"Those guys are going to have to play a lot of minutes. If one of them is struggling, then that means you're getting 25 minutes from a guy who's not having his best game and it hurts us. Those three guards all have to play well for us to be successful and I thought Marcus had a good game."
 
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.
 
"On Saturday against Wofford, we need to come out with a lot of energy and we need to take it," Padgett said. "When we're at home, we need to go take a game from somebody and quit trying to just hope that we finish it."
 
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 pick up their 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 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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