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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- With sophomore All-Southern Conference center Wyatt Walker in street clothes Saturday, the Samford University basketball team received a brilliant double-double performance from junior forward Eric Adams en route to an 80-61 home victory against the VMI Keydets in a critical SoCon matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Adams, the Bulldogs' uber-athletic, 6-foot-7 native of Hoover, equaled his career-high total of 13 points and added a personal-best 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double in the win.
 
Adams replaced Walker in the starting lineup for a second straight game and filled in nicely. Walker is currently ranked in the top 20 in the nation with 13 double-doubles this season.
 
With the win, Samford (16-12, 7-8 SoCon) snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 8-5 at home this season. The Bulldogs have the next two games at home and find themselves in a good position to garner some crucial momentum heading into the SoCon Tournament in early March.
 
Battling for a first-round bye in the tournament, Samford will play host to preseason-favorite Chattanooga on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CT) and The Citadel on Saturday at 6 p.m., for Senior Night.
 
VMI (6-20, 3-12 SoCon) dropped its third straight game and fell to 2-7 all-time against Samford.
 
The Bulldogs' defense Saturday limited QJ Peterson, the league's leading scorer at 20 points per game, to only four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor. It proved to be the only time this season that Peterson was held under double-digit scoring. His previous low total this year was 10 points on the road at Dayton on Dec. 23.
 
Samford's Adams proved to be one of five players scoring in double figures for the Bulldogs. True freshman Triston Chambers and junior Demetrius Denzel-Dyson both scored 15 points each, while fellow junior Alex Thompson and true freshman Josh Sharkey notched 13 points apiece.
 
Junior point guard Christen Cunningham tallied six assists Saturday and moved just three away from setting the school's all-time record in the category with 434. Cunningham, who already owns the Samford single-season record in assists this season with 178, is on pace to set the career record in only three years.
 
Samford built an early 14-point lead in the first half, led by 19 at halftime, 45-26, and cruised to its decisive 80-61 win.
 
Since the beginning of last season, the Bulldogs boast an impressive 17-4 record when scoring at least 80 points.
 
On Saturday, Samford shot 45.0 percent from the field and 45.5 (10-of-22) from 3-point range.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs continue their three-game homestand against defending SoCon champion Chattanooga.
 
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Box Score
Samford Stats