LEXINGTON, Va. - The Samford men's basketball hit the road in Southern Conference play against VMI tonight. The Bulldogs completed the season sweep over the Keydets as they dominated the paint tonight on their way to a 95-83 victory to move to 22-8 on the season and 12-5 in SoCon play.

It was a choppy opening half and game that struggled to fall into a rhythm as fouls and whistles were a plenty on the night. There were a total of 55 foul calls in the game, partially due to how the game was officiated but also the way the Bulldogs dominated around the basket and pounded the ball in the painted area. They outscored the home side 46-22 in the paint as Collin Holloway and Riley Allenspach had career nights.

Holloway was extremely efficient on the night for the Dogs as he went 8-of-9 from the floor as he played a team-high 32 minutes and finished with a game-high 24 points. The senior also added seven rebounds as he converted 7-of-8 from the free-throw line as well. The Bulldogs got a punch off the bench from Allenspach who scored a career-high 22 points and finished with eight rebounds. He was able to use his size advantage as he went 9-of-16 from the field and Samford had 16 offensive rebounds. Samford led 45-38 at the half as they were unable to pull away from the Keydets.

For the second straight game, the Bulldogs finished with a large shot advantage over their opponents as they got on the offensive glass and also forced 20 VMI turnovers. Samford did a good job taking care of the ball as they committed just seven turnovers working primarily against a VMI matchup zone that they were able to attack the middle of and down low throughout the night. 

The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the floor, 31-of-65, as they went just 6-of-18 from deep for the game. Leading scorer Trey Fort was steady throughout the game as he finished with 17 points as the team's third-leading scorer on the night. Eight different players scored for the Dogs but the trio of Collin Holloway, Allenspach, and Fort carried the day on the way to a 12-point win. 

The two sides combined for 68 free-throw attempts as Samford shot 27-of-36 from the line while the home side was 26-of-32. Both sides shot nearly the same percentage from the field, line, and three but the extra possessions from turnovers and second chances won the game for the Bulldogs. Rylan Jones added nine points as he went 2-of-4 from the field and added six rebounds

In other SoCon action, Chattanooga clinched the regular-season title as they have won 10 games in a row after a win over UNCG tonight. Samford and UNCG are now tied for second place and the two sides meet on Saturday with the winner becoming the two-seed in the conference tournament next week. Tip in Greensboro is schedule for 3 pm.m on Saturday. 



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