BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford men's basketball team fought off a tough Merrimack team, earning a 79-71 win on the second day of the Samford Multi-Team Event Friday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The win was Samford's fourth-straight victory, and the Bulldogs improved to 4-2 on the season. Merrimack fell to 3-3 with the loss.
 
"That's a good team," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said of Merrimack. "On a one-day prep, it's difficult to play against those guys. They remind me of a lot of the teams in our league, they are solid, well coached and all of their guys can shoot it. We knew against their zone that it was going to be a real challenge for us. It took us some time to ease into the game, particularly with Jermaine (Marshall) out, because he plays that high post really well. So, with him out, we had to have some guys to challenge those guys and step up there and make up for his rebounding as well. Jaden Campbell and A.J. (Staton-McCray) really did that and I thought that was great."
 
Samford was led in the game by Jaden Campbell with 19 points and seven rebounds, while A.J. Staton-McCray scored 18 points and grabbed five boards. Rylan Jones scored 13 points, while Achor Achor had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
For Merrimack, Adam Clark and Devon Savage scored 16 points apiece. Jordan Derkack had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Bryan Etumnu scored nine points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
In the first half, Merrimack took an early five-point lead at 8-3 with 15:44 to go in the half following a dunk by Etumnu. The Bulldogs scored the next six points to take a 9-8 lead at the 11:27 mark in the first half after a layup by Achor. Merrimack then came back to take a six-point lead at 18-12 with 8:16 left in the half following a jumper by Derkack.
 
Samford came back to tie the score at 22-22 with 6:18 left before halftime after a three-point play by Campbell. After Merrimack took a 26-22 lead, Samford closed the half with an 11-4 run to take a 33-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford opened the second half with an 11-0 run to take a 44-30 lead with 15:51 remaining following a layup by Riley Allenspach. With Samford leading, 54-44, Merrimack went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one point at 54-53 at the 9:22 mark after a layup by Clark.
 
Merrimack took the lead at 59-57 with 6:37 to go after a three-pointer by Jaylen Stinson. The lead went back and forth over the next several minutes until, with Samford leading, 67-65, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to push their lead to nine points at 74-65 with 3:13 to go after a three-pointer by Jones. Samford pushed its lead to 10 points at 79-69, and the Bulldogs came away with the 79-71 win.
 
The tournament will wrap up Saturday, with Alabama State taking on Merrimack and 12 p.m. and Samford hosting North Carolina A&T at 2 p.m., both games in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
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