BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's basketball team returned home to the Pete Hanna Center tonight as they hosted Mercer in Southern Conference action. After pulling out a dramatic one-point win in Macon earlier this year, the Bulldogs dominated the majority of the game tonight and came away with the 100-79 victory. The win moves Samford's record to 19-5 on the season and they remain atop the SoCon with a 9-2 record while Mercer falls 11-13 on their season.

It was the visitors who threw the first punch in the came tonight as they jumped out to a 16-5 lead over Samford before the two sides went to their bench for the under 16-minute media timeout. The game flipped completely as the Dogs brought in their second unit. Like they have regularly throughout the year, the Bulldogs outscored Mercer's bench 47-27 on the night.

The bench changed the tempo of the game with their press defense as the Bears struggled to even inbound the ball for a stretch where Samford went on an 18-1 run to take the lead. 10 different Bulldogs scored in the half, led by Julian Brown's 12 points off the bench as he went 4-of-5 from three in the half. The game started being played at Samford's pace as they forced nine turnovers and were firing away from three, going 11-of-25 in each half as they finished one make short of a tie of the school record from three while breaking the attempts record in the process. Through 20 minutes, the Dogs led the visitors 52-42.

Surprisingly, the visitors shot a higher percentage from the floor overall tonight as they finished at 45 percent while Samford shot it at 43 percent. However, Samford took 18 more attempts from the floor, made 13 more threes, and Mercer shot 12-of-25 from the free throw line. 

After scoring just two points in the previous game against The Citadel where Samford was in control throughout, Rylan Jones bounced back in a big way as he finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 7-of-9 from three while adding six assists. Six different Bulldogs reached double-figures as Trey Fort and Jaden Brownell joined Jones among the starters while Josh Holloway, Brown, and Riley Allenspach all reached the mark off the bench.

Samford assisted on 26 of 36 makes on the night and defensively forced 20 turnovers and held Mercer's leading scorer on the season to just four points. 

The Bulldogs sit atop the league, a game and a half above UNCG and Chattanooga. Up next, the Bulldogs have a difficult challenge at ETSU on Saturday afternoon. The Bucs are coming off a 62-55 win over VMI tonight and also defeated Samford at the Pete Hanna Center when the two sides met earlier this season, ending the Bulldog's long home winning streak at 27 games.





FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
For the latest news and information on Samford men's basketball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordMBB (Twitter), and @SamfordMBB (Instagram).