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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team registered a key Southern Conference home victory Saturday as the Bulldogs defeated the Western Carolina Catamounts, 85-71, in an important early-season league matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford (6-10, 2-1 SoCon) improved to 6-2 at home this season and closed out its conference-opening, three-game homestand with a 2-1 record. The Bulldogs defeated Chattanooga and Western Carolina (6-9, 2-1 SoCon) during the stretch, while coming up short against ETSU on Thursday.
 
The Catamounts suffered their first loss of SoCon play Saturday and were limited to a 41-percent shooting mark from the field. Freshman guard Matt Halvorsen scored 21 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor, with all of his field goals coming from beyond the arc.
 
Samford finished the contest with four players scoring in double figures. Senior sharpshooter Demetrius Denzel-Dyson scored a team-high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, while draining four 3-point baskets in 34 minutes of playing time.
 
The Bulldogs' Triston Chambers connected on five 3-pointers Saturday and dropped in 15 points. He knocked down 5-of-7 of his attempts from long range and increased his team-leading 3-point shooting percentage to 45.8 on the season.
 
Senior forward Eric Adams scored all 13 points of his points in the first half of play and nearly picked up his second double-double of the season with nine rebounds. He also added two steals and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Fellow senior Alex Thompson tallied 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, while shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. As a team, Samford shot 79.3 percent from the charity stripe against Western Carolina.
 
Junior point guard Justin Coleman turned in a key all-around game Saturday with nine points, nine assists and six rebounds. He logged a game-high 36 minutes of playing time and proved to be the catalyst in Samford's offensive attack.
 
Adams paced the Bulldogs in the first half with four high-powered dunks as Samford garnered a 26-16 advantage with 8:16 remaining in the period. The Bulldogs then took a 42-29 lead into the half and never led by less than 10 points in the final 20 minutes of action en route to their dominant 85-71 victory.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 5 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs will be squaring off against The Citadel Bulldogs in their first road contest of the 2018 season to be held at McAlister Field House in Charleston, South Carolina.
 
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