BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford basketball team opened its season tonight as they played host to Mississippi College at the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs pulled away from the Choctaws early in the first half on their way to a 100-58 victory to move their record to 1-0 on the season. 

"It was a good game for us to play tonight," said head coach Bucky McMillan. "We weren't very tight in the first half, we did some things that were uncharacteristic of use, particularly on defense. We didn't shoot it very well, especially in the first half, but we continued to play hard and that is what mattered. We tightened up a lot in the second half and played more how we were supposed to play. A lot more locked-in on defense which will translate when we get into conference play. I think we got a lot out of the game."

It was a slow start offensively for Samford on the night as it took them four minutes before Josh Holloway got the scoring started. Mississippi College was able to handle the Bulldog pressure early on but that would not last throughout the night, as the Dogs ramped up their press on way to forcing 21 Choctaw turnovers. The Samford bench, led by Jaden Brownell, Hamed "Larry" Olayinka, and Holloway sparked a 12-0 scoring run to build a lead against the visitors that would only build as the night went on.

Brownell scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first half, as he was the bright spot shooting from deep as he went 2-of-3 while the rest of the team combined to shoot 2-of-15 from behind the arc. The quality of shot wasn't the problem for the Dogs as they got the looks they wanted and their percentage progressed to the mean in the second half as they went 6-of-12 from three. 

Playing without their leading scorer and All-GSC guard Rashad Boldin, the Choctaws struggled to create quality looks against the Samford defense. The Bulldogs held the visitors to 25 percent shooting in the half and scored 21 of their 35 points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of play. Samford led 41-20 as the two sides went into the halftime locker room.

The offense came to life for the Bulldogs in the second half as they shot 65 percent from the floor as they overwhelmed and whore down the Choctaws. The three-headed big-man rotation of Brownell, Olayinka, and Riley Allenspach was too much for MC inside and out as they all scored in double figures on the night. 

It was a usual balanced attack that highlighted Samford's potential depth that they can feature throughout the season, as they had seven players score eight or more points and finished the night with 60 points from the bench. The second-half offense was humming as Samford assisted 15 of 22 made baskets in the half and had 24 assists on the night to just seven turnovers.

Collin Holloway finished the night with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting for the Bulldogs while Lukas Walls scored eight points while going 4-of-6 from the floor. Starting point guard Rylan Jones didn't get his own offensive game going much on the night as he finished with three points on just four shots but he had seven assists and zero turnovers after being top-15 in the nation in assist to turnover margin last season.

Up next, the Bulldogs will be in for a tough test on the road as they travel north to face Cornell on Nov. 8. Cornell is coming off a 22-8 season and started this season with a 93-52 win over Marywood University.



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