BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's basketball team played their season finale at the Pete Hanna Center as they wind down Southern Conference play against Western Carolina. The Bulldogs completed the season sweep of the Catamounts as they overmatched their visitors on their way to a 93-72 victory. Samford moves to 21-8 overall and 11-5 in SoCon play after the victory while Western Carolina falls to 8-19.

The Bulldogs led wire to wire on the day when they honored seven seniors prior to the game. They led by double digits multiple times in the half and by as many as 14 points as they used their pressure defense to overwhelm the Western Carolina side. The Dogs forced 16 Catamount turnovers in the first half, 28 for the game, as Samford scored 38 points off those giveaways for the game.

The visitors were more efficient from the floor when they did get a shot up, but Samford took 85 shots on the night compared to just 51 for Western Carolina. The Bulldogs were plus 16 in the turnover battle and they had 18 offensive rebounds to make up the massive shot differential. 

Trey Fort was hot from the jump as he continued his form off strong scoring play as he finished with a game-high 24 points, 16 of which the senior had in the first half. Eight different Bulldogs had a basket in the first half as they got back to strong bench production after a few quiet scoring games from the group. Samford's bench outscored their opponents 32-16 as the Dogs led 44-36 at the half after a late WCU run.

The Bulldogs were even more dominant in the second half as the game was played at Samford's pace completely. The 93 points for the Bulldogs is the second-most in SoCon play this season following only their 100-point performance against Mercer where they hit an NCAA season-high 22 threes. 

WCU went on a 7-0 run mid-way in the second half but it was quickly ended as senior Rylan Jones hit back-to-back threes and then Lukas Walls knocked down another shot from deep to cap the run and put the game in Samford's control from good. 

Fort, Jones, and Jaden Brownell all reached double-figures scoring while Jones led the way with seven assists. Five different players led the team with five rebounds as the Bulldogs finished the game 36-of-85 from the floor, 42 percent. 

The Bulldogs remain in third place in the league, just one game behind UNCG for second place and two behind Chattanooga who managed a one-point win over The Citadel tonight. Samford is back in action on Thursday, Feb. 27 as they head to VMI. The Dogs took down the Keydets 81-68 when the two sides met earlier this season.





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