BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's basketball team is getting towards the end of their non-conference schedule, as they hosted Austin Peay tonight at the Pete Hanna Center. After a poor offensive showing from both sides in the first half, the Bulldogs dominated the final 20 minutes of play en route to a 72-47 victory. The win takes the Samford record to 9-2 on the season overall while the Governors fall to 4-5.

"We didn't start the best, but played well defensively throughout," said head coach Bucky McMillan. "I think our depth played a factor in wearing them down. Held them to 22 points in the first half, you expect to be up by more than four points. Held them to 25 in the second and we scored 46 and finally got it going offensively. A 9-2 start to the season is a good start, but most importantly we are getting better. Two more in the non-conference and then the fun starts."

Neither side could buy a basket in the opening 20 minutes of play. Samford made just 9-of-24 attempts in the half as they struggled to attack the Austin Peay zone defense. Trey Fort had six of his 15 in the first half while Lukas Walls chipped in with five off the bench. It was Riley Allenspach's night out of the trio of Bulldog bigs as he scored seven in the first half and finished with 15 points. 

The Governors struggled just as much from the floor as the Dogs as they made just 9-of-28 attempts and they went 0-of-9 from three. The trend would continue throughout the night for the visitors however, as they finished the game shooting 35 percent while the Bulldogs shot 56 percent in the second half and knocked down 8-of-16 threes. 

Samford was able to capitalize off Austin Peay's errors in the second half, scoring 11 points off nine turnovers and outscoring the visitors 10-0 in second-chance points. Rylan Jones knocked down back-to-back threes early in the second half to spark the Dogs offense. Fort knocked down three from deep in the half as the Bulldogs just had too much firepower for the Govs.

Another strong outing from the Bulldog bench saw Walls lead the side in rebounding with eight to match his point total for the night, while Allenspach and Larry Olayinka, seven points, dominated down low. 

The Governors really tried to control the tempo early in the game, walking the ball up the floor when they could and running the clock down deep into possession. However, the Bulldogs have now shown they can win multiple ways of late as they are now riding a five-game winning streak.

The Bulldogs will face a big test when they return to action on Dec. 18. Samford will take a trip out to the desert to face an annual contender in Arizona.

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