BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford men's basketball team shot 59.5 percent from the floor on its way to a 128-82 win over LaGrange College Sunday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The win was Samford's seventh-straight victory, and the Bulldogs are now 7-2 on the season. The game was an exhibition contest for LaGrange and does not count toward its season record.
 
"I thought we played really hard," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "That's what our number one focus always is, how hard can we play and how unselfish can we play, and you saw that. Sometimes when you space it out and you have a big lead, some teams take their foot off the gas. But it becomes a habit when you do that and then you can't play consistent, tough basketball for 40 minutes, and I thought our guys did that. I thought we played really unselfish."
 
Chandler Leopard scored a career-high 21 points to lead Samford in the win. Leopard made 7-of-10 shots from the floor, all from three-point range, with both setting career highs. Achor Achor had 20 points and eight rebounds. Garrett Hicks scored 14 points for Samford, while Zach Loveday had 13 points and A.J. Staton-McCray added 12 points. Josh Holloway dished out a career-high seven assists in the win.
 
For LaGrange, Camrin Lyons and Kameron McCall had 12 points each. Gabe Cofield and Ford Barnes added 10 points each for LaGrange.
 
Samford opened the game hot, racing out to an 11-1 lead with 17:06 to go in the first half following a layup by Achor. After LaGrange cut the lead to seven points at 11-4, Samford went on a 15-5 run to push its lead to 26-9 at the 12:59 mark in the first half after a layup by Loveday.
 
With Samford leading, 31-14, the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run to push their lead to 42-14 with 7:56 to go in the opening half after a layup by Loveday. Samford led by as many as 34 points in the first half, and the Bulldogs held a 61-29 lead at halftime.
 
Samford opened the second half with a 22-5 run to take an 83-34 lead with 15:06 to play after a pair of free throws by Holloway. Samford led by as many as 54 points down the stretch and the Bulldogs finished with the 128-82 win.
 
Samford will take the week off for finals and will return to action when the Bulldogs play host to Alabama A&M on Monday, Dec. 11. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.




 
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