Bulldogs Outlast Mercer in Overtime Thriller

Wednesday, February 8

Macon, GA

6:00 PM

Samford University

17-9,11-2SoCon

Mercer

12-14,5-8SoCon

Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Samford	26	39	5	70
Mercer	29	36	4	69

Photo by: Parker Freedman | Samford Athletics

2.8.23 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MACON, Ga. – The Samford Men's Basketball Team picked up its third-straight win with a 70-69 overtime victory at Southern Conference foe Mercer on Wednesday evening.

The win improves the Bulldogs' record to 17-9 overall and 11-2 in SoCon play while dropping the Bears to 12-14 overall and 5-8 in league action. The victory also marks Samford's first win at Mercer since the 2001-02 campaign.

Ques Glover led all players with 22 points on an 8-16 shooting night while Jermaine Marshall recorded 17 points and four rebounds. A.J. Staton-McCray flirted with a double-double, tallying nine points and a game-high eight boards

Logan Dye added 10 points and five rebounds while Bubba Parham registered seven points and four rebounds.

Both teams scored 12 points over the first six and a half minutes of the game. The Bulldogs followed suit with a quick 5-0 run that put them up 17-12 at the 12:39 mark following a three from Marshall.

Mercer fought back to tie the score at 19 with 8:43 to play in the half. Nathan Johnson put the Bulldogs up 22-19 with a trey on the next possession, but the Bears went on to outscore Samford 10-4 over the final seven minutes to take a 29-26 lead into the break.

Samford shot just 33 percent (9-27) in the first half but was able to force eight Bear turnovers that led to 13 points.

The Bulldogs picked up the pace in the second half, outscoring Mercer 16-13 over the first seven minutes to tie the game at 42-all on a layup by Marshall with 13:01 to go.

Mercer tallied the game's next five points but Samford answered with a 12-1 run over the next three minutes, capped off by a three by Parham at the 7:46 mark that gave the Bulldogs a 54-48 advantage.

The Bears eventually caught back up, using a 14-8 run to tie the score at 62-all with 1:44 to play.

After a pair of free throws by Glover put the Bulldogs up 65-63 with 58 seconds left, Mercer answered one possession later via a pull-up jumper by Shawn Walker Jr. that tied the score at 65. The score would hold for the final 38 seconds to force an extra five minutes.

The Bears scored the first three points in overtime and went on to lead 69-67 following a 1-2 trip at the line from James Glisson III. Staton-McCray came up with the eventual game-winning points several possessions later by driving to the basket through contact for an and-one that turned into three-point play following a successful free throw.

The Bulldogs got two huge late stops to clinch the win, with Glover and company stripping away the ball from Mercer and negating a field-goal attempt on the final possession as time expired.

Samford finished the night shooting 41 percent (22-54) from the floor and 35 percent (7-20) from three. Free throw shooting proved to be pivotal, with the Bulldogs shooting 90 percent (19-21) and the Bears converting just 50 percent (8-16) on the night.

The Bulldogs will return to the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday, Feb. 11 for their next SoCon contest against the Citadel, with tip-off slated for 2:00 p.m. (CST).

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