BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford men's basketball team had 18 players see playing time, with 15 of those scoring, as the Bulldogs cruised to a 96-52 win over Mississippi College in Samford's home opener Tuesday night in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford improved to 1-2 on the young season. The game was an exhibition game for Mississippi College.
 
"It's always good when you get to play a lot of guys," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "Our deal with this game, as it is in every preconference game, it's all practice to get ready for the real stuff in January. You just have to take steps forward every single day and I thought we did that. The things we wanted to work on, we got better at. The difference in the game was, we stole the ball a lot. It's great when we get to play everybody. A lot of these guys work really hard in practice and don't always get the minutes."
 
As a team, Samford registered 18 steals and 21 assists, while committing just eight turnovers. Individually for Samford, Achor Achor led the way with 17 points, making 8-of-13 shots from the floor. Jermaine Marshall had 14 points, while Garrett Hicks added 10 points. Paulie Stramaglia, seeing his first regular-season action in a Samford uniform, had seven rebounds, sharing the team lead with Riley Allenspach.
 
For Mississippi College, Lucas Heflen scored 12 points. Anthony Ratliff Jr. added nine points and seven rebounds for the Choctaws.
 
The teams traded baskets early until, with Mississippi College leading, 7-6, Samford went on a 15-0 run to take a 21-7 lead with 10:05 to go in the first half following a pair of free throws by Marshall. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to 21 points at 31-10 with 8:11 left in the first half after a layup by Zach Loveday.
 
After Mississippi College cut the Samford lead to 15 points at 31-16, Samford closed the half with a 21-7 run to take a 52-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford opened the second half on a 14-2 run to push its lead out to 41 points at 66-25 with 16:23 to go following a dunk by A.J. Staton-McCray. Samford maintained at least a 37-point lead the rest of the way and the Bulldogs finished with the 96-52 win.
 
Tuesday night's game was the first of a nine-game homestand for Samford. The Bulldogs will next play host to South Carolina State on Friday, Nov. 17. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
 
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