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ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The Samford University basketball team's 2017-18 season came to an end Friday as the Bulldogs suffered an 89-79 loss to the Chattanooga Mocs in a first-round matchup of the Southern Conference Tournament being held at the U.S. Cellular Center.
 
"It was a frustrating end to a frustrating year with the injuries and sicknesses," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "I wanted for this group of seniors to go out on a better note. They all gave this program an opportunity by coming to Samford. Most of these guys committed to us when our high was 13 to 14 wins in a 10-year period. They gave us an opportunity and took a chance on us.
 
"Last year, it paid off with 20 wins and taking a step forward. With the injuries and adversity we had this year, our margin of error was a lot smaller and we were not able to overcome all of that. I really appreciate what this senior group has done for us. I think we are going to be really good moving forward, and it started with this group."
 
With 2:02 left to play in Friday's hard-fought, back-and-forth contest, Samford's Triston Chambers knocked down a deep 3-point basket from the right corner to draw the Bulldogs within two points, 81-79. Chambers finished the contest with six points and a steal.
 
On the play, Samford's Justin Coleman extended the school's single-game assist record to 15. The Bulldogs' junior point guard from Birmingham, Alabama, broke his teammate Christen Cunningham's record of 13, as well as his own, which he achieved twice this season.
 
Coleman finished the contest with 19 points, 15 assists, four rebounds and a steal. He also etched his name in the SoCon Tournament record books with his 15 assists. The previous record was 13, set by VMI's Richard Little against Chattanooga in 2003.
 
"Even though we had injuries to overcome this year, we had a lot of people step up," Coleman said. "We just did not pull it through at the end. But moving forward next year, it is going to make us grind a lot harder and remember the times that we lost. I think it is going to be good for us moving forward."
 
After Chambers' big basket cut Chattanooga's lead to 81-79, the Mocs bounced back with a 3-pointer from David Jean-Baptiste, three free throws from Rodney Chatman and then a pair of free throws from Makinde London down the stretch to earn the final 89-79 win.
 
London tallied a double-double with game highs in points (25) and rebounds (14) to lead Chattanooga (10-22). The win by the No. 10 seed Mocs sets up a quarterfinal showdown against No. 2 seed ETSU on Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT).
 
The Mocs used a 15-5 run over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 39-35 advantage into halftime. Chattanooga shot 12-of-27 from beyond the arc in the win and outscored Samford 43-8 in bench points.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead midway through the second half (66-65) before the Mocs surged ahead with a 15-4 run to take a 77-70 lead they would not relinquish.
 
"I thought we got off to a really good start," Padgett said. "They called a timeout and regrouped a little. They did a good job of taking away the roll on our pick-and-roll in the latter stages of the first half. We made some adjustments at halftime, and offensively, I thought we did some good things in the second half. But where we did struggle offensively, is that we turned the ball over. We had 10 turnovers in the first half when we tried to force some things.
 
"In the second half, we shot 17-for-30, but we did not make any 3-pointers. We were trading a 2-pointer for a 3-pointer because Chattanooga made six in the second half. We made a little run we when we went to the press, but we could not come up with that one big play to get us over the hump."
 
Senior guard Demetrius Denzel-Dyson led Samford (10-22) with 20 points, while senior Eric Adams tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
 
"Come in next year and put it all on the line from the beginning," said Denzel-Dyson in a message for his teammates. "This year, we put it all on the line, but we had injuries. Be a team from the beginning to the end. It is going to end fast because my years went by fast. Come in and fight like every game is your last game."
 
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