BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford men's basketball team earned its school-record 17^th-straight win with an 87-80 victory over Mercer Saturday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford is now 17-2 overall and 6-0 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs' 17-game win streak is the longest current streak in the nation. Mercer fell to 8-11 overall and 1-5 in league action.
 
"It's good to win when you don't play your best," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "This wasn't our best game, we've got some guys that are sick and some guys that are a little beat up. So, it was good to get through the game and come out on top. We turned them over a good bit early and then they kind of settled into the game. Hats off to them, I thought they played well. We're going to have to play better than that, we know that's what it's going to take to come out on top and win this league. We're going to have to keep getting better."
 
Samford was led in the win by A.J. Staton-McCray and Achor Achor with 20 points and five rebounds each. Jaden Campbell tallied 13 points, while Rylan Jones had 12 points and Josh Holloway added 10 points.
 
For Mercer, Jake Davis had 21 points and nine rebounds. Jalyn McCreary tallied 14 points, while Jalen Cobb scored 11 points and Alex Holt added 10 points.
 
Samford started the game hot, racing out to a 10-0 lead with 17:17 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Jones. Mercer scored five of the next six points to cut the lead to 11-5 with 15:21 remaining in the first half after a layup by McCreary. With Samford leading, 14-9, the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run to take a 24-11 lead with 10:38 left in the half after a layup by Campbell.
 
Mercer fought back to cut the lead to six points at 24-18 with 8:04 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Cobb. Samford pushed its lead out to 13 points at 31-18 with 7:02 left before halftime following a layup by Lukas Walls. Samford led by as many as 14 points down the stretch in the first half and the Bulldogs took a 46-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Mercer cut the lead to seven points at 51-44 with 14:42 left after a jumper by McCreary. Samford pushed the lead back out to 11 points at 55-44 with 13:18 to go following a hook shot jumper by Achor. Mercer answered with a 14-4 run to cut the lead to just one point at 59-58 with 9:51 remaining after a three-pointer by Davis.
 
Samford scored the next five points to push the lead back out to six points at 64-58 with 9:09 to go after a pair of free throws by Jones. The Bulldogs pushed the lead back out to 11 points at 71-60 with 5:44 to go after a three-point play by Campbell. Mercer scored the next seven points to cut the lead to four at 71-67 with 4:06 to go after a three-point play by Jah Quinones.
 
Samford then scored the next seven points to take a 78-67 lead with 1:31 to go after a layup by Staton-McCray. Mercer fought back to cut the lead to five at 85-80 in the final minute, but Samford held on for the 87-80 win.
 
Samford will next play at Furman on Wednesday, Jan. 24. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Greenville, S.C.




 
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