BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford men's basketball team earned a 75-61 Southern Conference win over Mercer Wednesday night in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The win is Samford's first over Mercer since 2002 when both teams were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The victory also ends the Bears' 17-game win streak in the series with Samford. The Bulldogs improve to 12-8 overall and 2-6 in Southern Conference play. Mercer falls to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in league play.
 
"Our defense the past couple of games has been very good," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "That's a very well-coached team with good players and they're known for great passing. And for us to come out there and have that many assists and take care of the basketball and have that many steals and 25 points off turnovers, that's a big difference."
 
Samford was led in the win by Ques Glover with 20 points, five assists and four steals. Wesley Cardet scored 16 points and dished out four assists. Jaden Campbell had 14 points for Samford, while Logan Dye added 11 points.
 
"You've seen him do so many things that have been high level on the offensive end, but he has the quickness to take over a game defensively," McMillan said of Glover. "I think you saw him spark such a run. He had several steals and he disrupted them from getting into their offense. When you've got a guard that is playing like that on offense and dominated on the defensive end as much as the offensive end, that's a big time effort, and that's the kind of effort we're going to have to have."
 
For Mercer, Jalen Johnson led the way with 13 points. Kamar Robertson had 11 points, and Felipe Haase had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Bears.
 
Mercer took an early 11-2 lead with 14:36 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Johnson. Samford came back to cut the lead to 11-6 at the 13:16 mark in the half after a turnaround jumper by Jacob Tryon. After Mercer built its lead back to 16-8, Samford went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to two points at 18-16 with 8:06 left in the half after a three-pointer by Jaron Rillie.
 
After Mercer pushed its lead to 21-16, Samford went on a 12-0 run to take a 28-21 lead with 3:00 to go in the half after a layup by Glover. Samford took a 31-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
After Mercer cut the lead to two points at 31-29, Samford went on a 7-0 run to push its lead to 38-29 with 18:02 to go in the first half after a dunk by Dye. Samford pushed its lead to 40-31, but Mercer scored the next four points to cut the lead to five at 40-35. Samford then scored the next six points to take a 46-35 lead with 14:32 after a three-pointer by Campbell.
 
Mercer cut the lead to seven points at 47-40, but Samford was later able to extend to a 12-point advantage at 57-45 with 8:45 to go after a layup by Dye. The Bears cut the lead to eight points at 63-55 with 3:32 to play on a three-pointer by Jordan Jones. The Bulldogs scored the next six points to take a 14-point lead at 69-55 with 1:46 remaining after a driving layup by Glover. Samford led by as many as 17 points down the stretch and the Bulldogs came away with the 75-61 win.
 
Samford will play at Western Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 29. The game is set for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.




 
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