RICHMOND, Va. - The Samford men's basketball team returned to game action tonight as they faced Virginia Commonwealth on the road. The Bulldogs looked like the better side for the majority of the opening half, but were blitzed in the second half and fell 83-57. Samford's record drops to 4-6 after the defeat while the Rams move to 6-3 on the season.

In a hostile environment, the Bulldogs got off to a strong start, jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead. The Dogs led for over 16 minutes in the first half, as they built their lead up to as many as seven with three minutes remaining. However, the home side would close the half on a 10-2 run that put them ahead 34-31 at the break.

Dylan Faulkner was the best player on the floor for either team tonight as he dominated in the paint for the Bulldogs. He scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes, as he went 5-of-6 from the field. The Dogs hit two threes early, from Isaiah Campbell-Finch and Jadin Booth, but the shots from deep dried up as they went the final 33 minutes without a make from deep and finished 2-of-20 from behind the arc.

The Bulldogs shot 41 percent from the field in the first half and held VCU to just 33 percent from the floor. The Rams were strong on the offensive glass on the night as they grabbed 17 of their own misses, which they turned into 16 second-chance points. The second half was all Rams as they outscored the Bulldogs 49-26. Faulkner once again led the way for Samford as he had eight points in the second half, and he finished with a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds.

Samford went just 10-of-33 from the floor in the second half while the Rams were over 50 percent from the floor and from three as they built a twenty-plus point lead. Campbell-Finch got the start for the Bulldogs and was the other Samford player to reach double figures as he finished the night with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting. The back court pairing of Keaton Norris and Jadin Booth combined for ten points as they shot 3-of-18 on the night. The VCU bench dominated the game as they outscored the Bulldogs 50-9 with the second unit.

After making double-digit threes in their first five games, the Dogs have now shot below 32 percent in five-straight contests. They return home and have a quick turnaround as they host Cornell on Sunday night at 6 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. The Big Red are 5-4 on the season and are coming off a 93-80 defeat at Towson on Wednesday night.

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