GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Samford men's basketball team saw its school-record 17-game win streak snapped with a 78-68 loss at Furman Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.
 
The loss was Samford's first set back since a Nov. 10 loss at VCU. Samford fell to 17-3 overall and 6-1 in Southern Conference play with the loss. Furman improved to 11-9 overall and 5-2 in SoCon action.
 
"Obviously, we didn't play our best game," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "We were a little sluggish. I know we've been battling some sickness and stuff, we just didn't have our same pop. It's important that we get back healthy and get our pop back. We just didn't have it tonight. I'm hoping we can get this corrected quickly."
 
Samford was led in the loss by Achor Achor with 19 points and six rebounds. A.J. Staton-McCray scored 14 points, while Nathan Johnson added 10 points. Rylan Jones dished out eight assists in the game for Samford.
 
For Furman, Marcus Foster led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Alex Williams tallied 16 points, J.P. Pegues had 12 points and PJay Smith added 11 points for the Paladins.
 
Samford grabbed an early 6-3 lead with 17:58 to go in the first half following a layup by Jones. With Samford leading, 8-6, Furman went on a 10-2 run to take a 16-10 lead with 12:35 left in the opening half after a jumper by Carter Whitt. Samford scored the next six points to knot the score at 16-16 with 9:42 remaining in the first half after a layup by Jaden Campbell.
 
Furman then went on a 13-3 run to take a 29-19 lead at the 5:02 mark in the opening half following a three-pointer by Foster. The Bulldogs cut the lead to six points at 31-25 with 1:22 left before halftime after a layup by Achor. Furman held a 34-25 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford scored the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to four points at 34-30 with 18:49 left after a three-pointer by Staton-McCray. Furman pushed the lead out to 11 points at 44-33 at the 16:07 mark after a jumper by Pegues. The Bulldogs fought back to cut the lead to four again at 44-40 with 14:08 to go after a jumper by Achor.
 
Furman then went on a 12-3 run to take a 56-43 lead with 10:30 to go following a jumper by Williams. Samford fought back to cut the Furman lead back to seven at 56-49 with 8:57 to go after a three-pointer by Johnson. Furman then extended its lead to 14 points at 67-53 with 5:07 left after a layup by Foster. The Paladins led by 16 points at 76-60, but Samford scored the next six points to cut the lead to 10 at 76-66. The Bulldogs, however, could get no closer as Samford fell by a score of 78-68.
 
Samford will play at ETSU on Saturday, Jan. 27. The game is set for a 3 p.m. (CT) start from Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.


 
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