MACON, Ga. – The Samford men's basketball team battled Mercer in a back-and-forth Southern Conference game before falling by a score of 83-80 Wednesday evening at Hawkins Arena.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 10-4 overall and 0-2 in SoCon play. Mercer improves to 8-6 overall and 1-0 in league play.
 
Samford trailed by double digits in the second half, but the Bulldogs battled back to cut the lead to just one point, but were unable to get over the hump, falling by three points to the Bears.
 
"We dug ourselves a hole in the second half, the guys showed a lot of grit getting back in it," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "It's hard to win on the road, hard to win on the road when you shoot it poorly. We didn't play well enough elsewhere to win this game. We were right there within reach; it was the only game this year that was a close game that we ended up losing. We have to bounce back to play Western (Carolina) on Saturday."
 
Jermaine Marshall led Samford with a career-high 24 points with 17 of them coming in the first half for the Bulldogs. Marshall also grabbed nine rebounds in the contest. Logan Dye added 20 points in 30 minutes of action. Ques Glover had a strong second half too, finishing with 23 points with 18 of them coming in the last 20 minutes.
 
For Mercer, Shannon Grant had 26 points, while Felipe Haase had 24 points.
 
Mercer grabbed an early 6-2 lead with 18:19 to go in the first half after a pair of free throws by Victor Bafutto. With Samford trailing, 17-16, the Bulldogs went on a 15-4 run to take a 31-21 lead at the 6:31 mark in the first half following a layup by Jaden Campbell.
 
The Bears, however, scored the next seven points to cut the Samford lead to three points at 31-28 after a three-pointer by Grant. Mercer closed to within two points at 33-31, but Samford closed the half by scoring five of the final seven points to take a 38-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
With Samford leading, 49-43, Mercer went on a 16-0 run to take a 59-49 lead with 10:48 to go following a three-pointer by Haase. Samford fought back to cut the lead to 60-55 with 7:29 to go after a free throw by Marshall. Mercer, however, answered with a 7-0 run to push its lead to 67-55 with 6:37 to go after a layup by Kamar Robertson.
 
Samford fought back to cut the lead to four points at 69-65 with 3:43 to go after a three-pointer by Glover. With Mercer leading, 79-73, Samford scored the next five points to cut the lead to one at 79-78 with five seconds left after a free throw by Glover. Mercer, however, made four key free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 83-80 win.
 
Samford will return home to play host to the Western Carolina Catamounts Saturday. The game is set for a 2 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.


 


FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
For the latest news and information on Samford Men's Basketball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordMBB (Twitter), and @SamfordMBB (Instagram).