BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's basketball team returned home tonight for Southern Conference action as they hosted ETSU at the Pete Hanna Center. Carrying the second-longest home winning streak in the nation, 28 games, the Bulldogs saw their streak snapped 65-60. The defeat drops Samford's record to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play, still in first place in the conference.

The visitors came to play early as they jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead in the opening minutes of play. In front of the second-largest crowd in Pete Hanna Center history, the Bulldogs came back on a 25-10 run to retake control of the game. It wasn't the prettiest shooting night by either team as they each were below 36 percent for the half.

Samford had eight different players score a basket in the opening half, led by Josh Holloway who had seven points, four rebounds, and three assists in 12 minutes of play. Right when it looked like the Dogs had the momentum, the Bucs went on an 8-0 run to close the half as the two sides entered their locker rooms tied at 29. 

Rylan Jones provided a spark early in the second half as he connected on back-to-back three-pointers for Samford. After being held scoreless in the first, leading scorer Trey Fort added eight points in the second half, but the Bulldogs offense just looked clunky throughout the night, shooting just 38 percent.

"Credit to ETSU, they played pretty good defense," said head coach Bucky McMillan. "We probably made it a little easier on them than we needed to. Our activity with our pressure defense was ridiculous. We only had two steals in the game and sometimes when you see your offense drop it is because you aren't generating tempo, creating steals, or giving yourself easy opportunities."

Samford wasn't the only side struggling offensively on the night, as ETSU was held to just 35 percent shooting but they hit some timely shots down the stretch to put themselves in position to win the game late. Neither side led by more than six points in the second half as each offense struggled to put together scoring runs to separate. 

The Bulldogs finished with just two players in double figures as Jones ended the night with 12 to lead the team and Collin Holloway finished with 10. Holloway also added 10 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to finish off his double-double.

The Dogs still sit atop the SoCon with their tiebreaker over UNCG. Up next, they face another tough test as they hit the road in league play to face Chattanooga. The Mocs are 12-7 on the season and 4-2 in conference play after winning at Furman tonight. 



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