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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- In a hard-fought Southern Conference matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center Monday, the Samford University basketball team battled tooth-and-nail in the late-season contest, but ultimately came up short, 74-69, against the Mercer Bears.
 
Samford (9-19, 5-10 SoCon) outscored the Bears, 41-40, in the second half of play. The Bulldogs trailed Mercer (13-13, 6-7 SoCon), 34-28, in the opening period before coming out strong in the final stanza.
 
Samford scored the first eight points of the second half and garnered a 36-34 advantage with 17:41 left to play in the game. The Bulldogs' run was spurred by five straight points from Triston Chambers and a deep 3-point basket from Alex Thompson.
 
Chambers led Samford with 16 points Monday, while Thompson finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
 
Immediately following the Bulldogs' early second-half run, Mercer answered with a 9-0 rally of its own to take a 43-36 lead with 14 minutes left to play.
 
From that point on, Samford was able to trim the Bears' advantage to one point on several occasions, but just couldn't get over the hump to take a lead.
 
Josh Sharkey, the Bulldogs' speedy sophomore from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, finished a perfect 9-of-9 on free-throw attempts Monday and drained a pair at the 1:50 mark to cut Mercer's lead to 66-65. Samford's defense then forced the Bears into a missed shot, but Demetre Rivers was able to grab the offensive rebound, which led to a Jordan Strawberry jumper on the possession.
 
Mercer was then able to hold off the Bulldogs down the stretch for the 74-69 victory.
 
The Bears out-rebounded Samford, 37-29, including a 13-7 tally on the offensive side of the court. The Bulldogs were able to win the fast-break battle, 9-2, and outscored Mercer, 22-14, from its bench.
 
Ross Cummings led all scorers with 21 points for the Bears. He shot 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Strawberry followed with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
 
Sharkey posted 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds off the bench, while Justin Coleman finished with seven assists and a steal in the contest. Senior Eric Adams notched eight points, six rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocked shots.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs conclude their three-game SoCon homestand against the Furman Paladins in a Senior Day contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center. Prior to the game, Samford will be honoring its seniors with a special Senior Day presentation.
 
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