CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Samford Men's Basketball Team knocked down a season-high 29 free throws and out-rebounded The Citadel 42-27 in its 75-63 Southern Conference victory on Saturday.
With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 8-7 overall and 2-0 in SoCon action to sit atop the league standings. The Citadel drops to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Four different players scored in double figures, with Logan Dye notching a game-high with 20 points on a 7-9 shooting night. The senior forward also hauled in eight rebounds and went 5-6 from the free-throw line.
Jermaine Marshall logged his first double-double of the season with a 13-point, 10-rebound effort. Nathan Johnson finished with 13 points and four boards while Jaron Rillie registered 11 points and five rebounds in addition to sinking all nine of his free-throw attempts.
The Bulldogs dominated the early portion of the first half with a 14-0 run that put them up 18-4 at the 12:08 mark. Samford converted five of seven shots over the five-minute scoring run and knocked down all four shots from the free throw line.
The Citadel worked its way back into the game with a 12-2 run over the next five minutes while holding The Bulldogs to 0-6 from the field to make the score 20-16 in favor of Samford.
From there, the Bulldogs outscored The Citadel 10-9 to take a 30-25 lead into the break. Samford held The Citadel to just 28 percent (8-29) on field goals in the first half, including a clip of 27 percent (3-11) from three. Samford got to the line 12 times in the period and converted 11 shots (91 percent).
Samford jumped out to a 39-29 lead in the second half following a jumper from Dye at the 15:56 mark, but the Citadel eventually fought back to trim its deficit to 52-49 with 7:53 to go.
The Citadel tied the game at 54-all with a three at the 4:29 mark, but Samford responded by going 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from the charity stripe over the next 2:25 as part of an 11-0 run. Four Bulldogs contributed to the scoring action over that span, with Dye tallying a team-high four points.
Samford held off a late push by The Citadel in the final two minutes of action by sinking eight of 10 foul shots, giving way to the 75-63 final score.
The Bulldogs finished the day shooting 45 percent (21-27) from the floor while holding The Citadel to just 35 percent (20-58). Samford recorded 34 points in the paint, 12 bench points, 10 points off turnovers, and 10 second-chance points.
The men's basketball team will return home for SoCon action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when they host VMI at 6:30 p.m. (CST) from the Pete Hanna Center.
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