MACON, Ga. - The Samford men's basketball program hit the road tonight in Southern Conference play as they squared off with the Mercer Bears. After looking like they were in control of the game, the Bulldogs had to hold on late for a 75-74 victory to move to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in the SoCon to sit atop the league.

Collin Holloway got the Bulldogs going early on the night as he scored a quick seven points and finished with nine of his 11 points in the first half. The Dogs went deep into their bench early tonight as they featured 12 different players in the first half, more than their usual already deep rotation to begin with. They were rewarded with 19 bench points in the opening 20 minutes of play, Larry Olayinka's seven points, and Zion Wilburn's four points as nine different Samford players scored in the half. 

Samford shot 52 percent from the floor in the half but it wasn't a strong shooting night from behind the arc as they went just 5-of-20 in the game. The Bulldogs were never really able to separate from the home side on the night as they led by as much as six in the half and took a 41-38 advantage into the break.

The Bulldogs are a top-five three-point shooting team but it wasn't their night today so they changed their game in the second half, dominating the paint 18-4 and 42-20 on the night. It was led mostly by Jaden Brownell who finished the night with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Holloway was also a presence down around the basket as he finished with eight rebounds to go along with his 11 points. Rylan Jones matched Holloway with 11 points of his own and five assists while leading scorer Trey Fort was held to just seven but would later make one of the biggest plays of the night on the defensive end. 

The Dogs looked to be in control as they led by 12 with just over 10 minutes remaining, 63-51. From that point on however, the Bulldogs would only hit two more buckets from the floor and none in the final 9:12. Samford did get into the bonus early in the half so they made 27 trips to the line on the night but they didn't take full advantage shooting just 60 percent from the stripe.

The Bears knocked down a triple with 25 seconds left to tie the game at 74. The Dogs tried to hold for the final shot but turned the ball over and were saved by a rundown Trey Fort hustle block with two seconds left. On the ensuing inbound play, Mercer tried to throw it off the back of Brownell but the ball came into the arms of Rylan Jones who was fouled with under a second remaining. He knocked down the first free throw to give the Bulldogs the one-points victory. 

Being one of the top-scoring teams in the nation, the Bulldogs have now shown they can win in multiple ways in the last couple of wins over UNCG and now Mercer. They remain the last unbeaten team in the conference and sit ahead of UNCG who is the only side who only has one defeat.

Up next, the Bulldogs return to the Pete Hanna Center to host ETSU this Saturday at 5 p.m. The Buccaneers are 10-8 overall and 3-2 in SoCon play after falling 73-70 tonight at Furman. 



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