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MACON, Ga. -- The Samford University basketball team suffered its first road Southern Conference loss of the 2017-18 campaign Saturday as the Bulldogs were defeated by the homestanding Mercer Bears, 81-50, in an early-season league matchup held at Hawkins Arena.
 
With the loss, Samford (7-11, 3-2 SoCon) moved to 1-9 when playing on the road this season. The Bulldogs will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) as they host Wofford in the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Mercer (8-9, 1-3 SoCon) jumped out to an early 12-0 lead Saturday and never looked back. The Bears led for the entire 40 minutes of action and outscored Samford, 36-16, in the paint.
 
At halftime, Mercer held a 44-16 advantage over the Bulldogs.
 
The Bears' Ria'n Holland paced all scorers with 23 points in 23 minutes of playing time, while senior Stephon Jelks added 13 and Demetre Rivers chipped in with 11.
 
Samford finished the game with two players scoring in double figures as Triston Chambers notched a team-high 11 points and Justin Coleman added 10.
 
The Bulldogs were limited to 32.1-percent shooting from the field and 26.9 percent from 3-point range. A stark contrast from Thursday when they shot 61.9 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from beyond the arc en route to a season-high 107 points at The Citadel.
 
Mercer snapped a three-game losing streak with Saturday's outcome and extended its winning streak against Samford to nine straight outings. The Bulldogs' most recent victory in the series occurred Feb. 23, 2002.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Alabama, for a highly-anticipated matchup against the Wofford Terriers to be held in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
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