JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Samford men's basketball team earned a crucial 77-73 Southern Conference road win at East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at Freedom Hall.
 
The win marked just the second time Samford has ever defeated ETSU, and it broke the Bucs' 12-game win streak in the series. Samford improves to 16-9 overall and 6-7 in SoCon play. The Bulldogs have now won five of their last six games this season. ETSU falls to 13-14 overall and 5-9 in league play.
 
"It's tough to get a road win," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "Obviously this is a very good basketball team that has won this league several times. The series was pretty lopsided, but we're breaking a lot of streaks right now. We've won five of our last six games, we're coming home to play four-straight home games in the league. This is a great league. We need our whole community and school to turn out when we come back home."
 
Samford was led in the game by Ques Glover with 23 points. Jermaine Marshall posted his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The nine double-doubles are the second most in the SoCon this season. Jaden Campbell also scored 15 points for Samford, while Logan Dye added 14 points and six rebounds.
 
"This was a gritty performance by our guys," McMillan said. "We know this is a hard league to win in on the road. We came out strong, they ended up taking the lead late. We overcame a lot of adversity and we held on there at the end. This was a huge win for our program."
 
ETSU was led by Jordan King with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. Ledarrius Brewer had 12 points, while David Sloan and Ty Brewer had 11 points each and Jaden Seymour added 10 points.
 
The Bulldogs took an early 6-2 lead with 16:07 to go in the first half following a layup by Marshall. Samford pushed its lead to eight points at 15-7 with 14:10 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Campbell. ETSU fought back to cut the lead to three points at 22-19 with 9:49 left in the opening half after three free throws by King.
 
Samford then went on a 6-0 run to push its lead out to 28-19 with 8:31 to go in the first half after a three-point play by Campbell. The Bucs scored the next five points to cut the lead to 28-24 with 7:17 to go after a layup by Brewer. Samford extended its lead back out to eight points at 34-26 with 4:49 remaining in the half after a layup by Wesley Cardet. ETSU closed the gap to four points at 42-38 going into halftime.
 
The Bulldogs built their lead to 10 points at 51-41 with 16:18 to go after a hook shot by Logan Dye. ETSU answered with a 10-0 run to knot the score at 51-51 with 13:40 left following a three-pointer by Brewer. Samford scored the next six points to take a 57-51 lead at the 12:43 mark after a three-pointer by Campbell.
 
ETSU then went on an 11-0 run to take a 62-57 lead with 8:24 left after a three-point play by Charlie Weber. Samford answered with a 9-1 run to take a 66-63 lead with 6:17 remaining following a layup by Glover. After ETSU tied the game at 68-68, Samford took a four-point lead at 75-71 with 34 seconds left after a free throw by Glover. The Bulldogs came away with the 77-73 win.
 
Samford will return home for its next four games. The Bulldogs will host VMI (Feb. 17), UNCG (Feb. 19), The Citadel (Feb. 21) and Furman (Feb. 23) in that stretch.  


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).