BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's basketball team returned home as they near the end of the regular season Southern Conference play to host Furman tonight. The Bulldogs fell behind in the opening half after an extended offensive drought but they stormed back from 21 down to tie the game late before running out of gas 80-72. Samford falls to 20-8 overall and 10-5 in SoCon play after the defeat while Furman moves to 20-8 and 8-7 in league play.

The Bulldogs got off to a strong start in the opening minutes as they jumped out to a seven-point lead after eight minutes of play as they were led by Jaden Brownell who had 12 points in the half on 5-of-7 shooting. However, the Bulldogs went on an elongated scoring drought which has become an all too common trend of late for the Bulldogs in first halves.

A seven-minute scoreless stretch saw the Paladins go on a 16-0 run and then lead by as much as 18 in the half. Samford closed on a quick 5-0 spurt led by Josh Holloway and Brownell to take some momentum into the break but trailed 43-30 at the half. 

Furman opened on an 8-0 run out of the half to go up by 21 before head coach Bucky McMillan was forced to call a timeout. Whatever was said in that huddle was enough to galvanize the Bulldogs for nearly the remainder of the game. 

In a matter of six minutes, the Bulldogs had the deficit down to single digits. Trey Fort and Josh Holloway came to life offensively as they scored 12 and 10 points respectively in the second half. Brownell continued his good work offensively as he finished with a team-high on the night and a personal season-high 25 points. He was an efficient scorer throughout the game as he was 10-of-16 from the field and connected on some timely threes as he was 5-of-9 from deep. 

Samford increased their defensive intensity in the half-court and their full-court press game as with 3:44 left they had completely erased the 21-point hole after a Lukas Walls steal and Rylan Jones layup. The game was tied at 64 but the Dogs wouldn't score again for another two minutes as untimely turnovers and missed opportunities at the rim allowed Furman to regain control of the game. 

Furman did well to limit the chances of giving the Bulldogs more hope of a comeback late in the game as they converted important chances at the free-throw line as they went 23-of-27 on the night from the stripe. Defensively, Samford held Furman to just 21 shots in the second half and forced them to shoot 33 percent from the floor but they made enough plays late to capture the close victory and sweep the Bulldogs on the season. 

Samford shot 39 percent from the game, 26-of-67, and had Holloway, Fort, and Brownell as the only players in double figures. After outscoring nearly every opponent in bench points throughout the season, the Bulldog's second unit has combined to score in single digits for the second straight game.

Samford falls two games behind Chattanooga for first place in the league and they sit a game behind UNCG for the two-seed after the Spartans also fell tonight to ETSU. The Bulldogs have their final home game of the season on Saturday when they welcome Western Carolina as the Dogs will celebrate their class of seniors prior to the game. Samford took down Western Carolina 88-69 when the two sides met earlier this season and the Catamounts sit at 8-18 on the season.



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