CHICAGO, Ill. – The Samford Men's Basketball team fought tooth and nail at Big East foe DePaul on Wednesday, falling 103-98 in overtime to the Blue Demons in a game that featured 16 lead changes and 16 tied scores.
Logan Dye led the way for Samford with a career-high 23 points on a 10-19 shooting night. Dye also added seven rebounds.
Bubba Parham logged his first career double-double as a Bulldog, finishing with 17 points and 10 boards. Parham fell just three assists shy of a triple-double, registering seven on the night.
Jaden Campbell scored 12 points while Nathan Johnson and Achor Achor both accounted for 11 points. Johnson's six rebounds marked the third most by a Bulldog on the night.
Both teams started fast, with the score reading 13-11 in favor of Samford following a layup from Parham at the 14:59 mark. The Bulldogs grabbed their largest lead of the half when a Dye slam put them up 20-14, but DePaul erased the deficit with a 10-2 run to go up 24-22 with 9:25 to play in the first.
The next nine minutes of action saw six tied scores and three lead changes, with the Blue Demons edging the Bulldogs out 26-24 to take a 50-49 lead into halftime.
Both teams put up efficient shooting numbers in the first half, with DePaul converting 58 percent (18-31) of its field goals and Samford posting a clip of 51 percent (19-37).
DePaul held the lead in the second half all the way until the 7:51 mark when a layup by Dye gave the Bulldogs a 73-72 advantage. From there, the two teams traded baskets until a three-ball by the Blue Demons at the 2:26 mark put them up 84-80.
A breakaway jam with 17 seconds left gave DePaul an 89-84 lead. The Bulldogs kept fighting, however, getting a three-point play from Achor on the following possession and a steal-and-score off the ensuing inbound pass from Jermaine Marshall that tied the game at 89 and forced overtime.
A pair of Parham free throws gave Samford a 93-90 lead in OT with 2:52 to play, but the Blue Demons rattled off an 11-2 scoring run to take a 101-95 lead that eventually turned into a 103-98 final score. DePaul knocked down four of six from the floor in overtime while Samford converted on just one of six.
The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 45 percent (34-75) from the field while DePaul posted a field-goal efficiency of 53 percent (32-61)
Three-point shooting proved to be the difference maker, with the Bulldogs shooting 37 percent (10-27) from beyond the arc and the Blue Demons finishing the evening at 53 percent (18-34).
Both teams grabbed 39 rebounds while the Bulldogs outscored the Blue Demons in the paint, 44-16. The Samford bench outscored DePaul's, 35-27.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 4, when they take on the University of Central Florida at 1:00 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.
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